Emergency beds system ‘fails those at risk’

AT-RISK children in Dublin cannot access emergency care beds through HSE social workers by day – and instead are being forced to routinely wait until 5pm when gardaí can intervene.

The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) has said that emergency care beds are being ring-fenced by the HSE for after-hour services and so the number of beds that can be accessed for emergency day cases is limited.

After 5pm, children in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow at risk of immediate harm must present at or be presented at a Garda station if they want to be put into emergency care accommodation. Gardaí then contact social workers who find a home for the child.

High-risk children are often forced to “make their own way” from the Garda station to the emergency care bed. And, often children spend extended periods in these emergency beds but still have to attend a Garda station each evening to that proper procedure can be followed.

IASW president Ineke Durville said that the present out-of-hours service in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow s is “far from ideal”.

“It fulfils a minimal function by providing an emergency service but ideally they should be going to a local social work agency by day and night and not to gardaí. However, if we were to have a properly-run service by day and by night, we would need to double the number of social workers...,” she said.

At present, there are 629 social workers working in the child and family sector of the HSE looking after 5,300 children, according to the IASW.