Children’s hostel ‘failed to vet staff’

THE main hostel used to house unaccompanied foreign children in Ireland failed to vet staff or provide adequate security for children, a HSE report conducted in July 2005 found.

As well as failing in its duty towards children or ensuring staff were vetted through the gardaí, they failed to comply with many of the minimum standards of care which hostels providing care to children must meet.

One extract of the report stated that, “At no time could the staff say exactly how many children were in the hostel or where the children had gone.”