Andrews meets with senior HSE officials over child welfare concerns
Yesterday the Irish Examiner revealed details of investigations into 19 allegations against foster carers in the Dublin North West and North Central areas, some of which were of a sexual nature. Fine Gael’s spokesman on children Alan Shatter said the revelations demonstrated how vulnerable children were being let down by the state.
“I think it’s absolutely clear that both the Government, successive ministers for children and the HSE have utterly failed to ensure that we have a fully functional child protection service that gives children the protection to which they’re entitled,” he said on Newstalk Radio. Labour said the reports show the state care system is “fundamentally dysfunctional” and pointed to the case of one teenager in care who was effectively abandoned in an internet cafe because the HSE could not find appropriate accommodation. During the week, correspondence obtained by the Irish Examiner revealed ongoing breaches of child care regulations in relation to placement of children with unapproved foster carers and failure to allocate each child in care a social worker.
Yesterday Mr Andrews said he had emphasised to the HSE the importance of ensuring that comprehensive plans are in place “as a priority” to address weaknesses identified by both the HSE and Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in the provision of foster care services. He had also emphasised the need to ensure these plans “are fully delivered upon in the shortest possible timeframe”.
He said he considered it “particularly important” that the HSE take all necessary steps to increase the number of social worker posts by a factor of 200 this year, a commitment delivered in the wake of the publication last year of the Ryan Report into clerical sex abuse. Separately, a joint statement released by the Irish Foster Care Association, the Irish Association of Young People in Care (IAYPIC) and the Children’s Rights Alliance said they were “deeply disturbed” by reports of investigations into allegations against foster carers in North Dublin.
Jillian van Turnhout, chief executive of the alliance, said while the majority of foster care families “do an outstanding job... unfortunately, from time to time, some children in the foster care system are failed”.
“This minimal risk can be reduced further by ensuring that each foster family is vetted, assessed and trained and receives ongoing support and checks,” she said.
Yesterday the HSE said all children in its care, including children in foster care, are facilitated by social workers to express any concerns, complaints and/or allegations that they may have. “This includes children in foster care making complaints and allegations against their carers,” the HSE said. “For example, where a child makes an allegation of sexual abuse, a full risk assessment is completed by a social worker and this includes notifications to An Garda Síochána.”
