‘HSE no power to protect children’

HEALTH authorities have inadequate powers to protect children in danger of being sexually abused outside of the family, the Murphy report on clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese has claimed.

There was a need for clear statutory powers for health officials so there was no doubt about their ability to intervene in child protection issues, the report found.

The law also needed to be changed so there was a duty on Health Service Executive (HSE) officials to notify groups such as schools and sports clubs about a possible child abuser, the Murphy commission concluded.