Government child protection failures ‘as serious the those of the Church’

GOVERNMENT failures on child protection are as serious as those of the Church, Fine Gael said last night.

The opposition said Minister for Children Barry Andrews should not “abdicate responsibility for his role in failing to protect children” in light of recent reports on allegations of clerical abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne.

Fine Gael spokesman on children, Alan Shatter, said the state’s child protection measures are not working.