Judge scathing of State’s childcare facilities

A JUDGE handling childcare cases has complained that children brought before him because of concerns about their welfare have to make do with overstretched social workers, shortages of court time, ill-equipped accommodation and communication blunders.

In a scathing criticism of procedures and protections available to vulnerable youngsters, Judge Conal Gibbons said he was reminded of the Victoria Climbie case in England where a litany of failures by social services resulted in the chronic abuse and tragic death of the nine-year-old.

“I describe these children as being on the edge; they are on the edge of society, on the edge of their families, on the edge of the care system and often on the edge of the lives. It just takes one little push to put them over the precipice.