Fears for social workers in child-protection laws

THE proposed amendment to the Constitution enshrining children’s rights could expose social workers to false accusations, it was claimed yesterday.

Philip McFadden, president of the Irish Association of Social Care Workers (IASCW) said a proposal, on the exchange of ‘soft information’, will have to be changed as it could create a new barrier in the field of child care.

Mr McFadden said the association’s 8,500 members would be left unprotected against false accusations, if the amendment was approved, without change to that proposal.