Vetting of childcare staff grossly inadequate, warns ISPCC

VETTING procedures for people working with children are grossly inadequate, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children warned yesterday.

The group made its comments after the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) annual report revealed that no garda checks were carried out on certain staff employed in nine of 22 health board-managed residential care centres visited last year. In seven more, checks were only made after the jobs were offered.

“The situation in relation to vetting of staff is unsatisfactory and needs urgent attention,” the report concluded. The SSI, since it was set up in 1999, has inspected 70 of the 101 health board homes.