A BROKEN SYSTEM

CHILD protection services are “dysfunctional, ineffective and inconsistent” and do not safeguard the rights, welfare and best interests of a child, a former HSE social worker has claimed.

Mary- Rose Waterman, who now works in Australia, said the death of teenager Christopher O’Driscoll — with whom she closely worked for two years — demonstrated a clear need for a radical overhaul of child protection services.

According to Ms Waterman the 17-year-old Cork boy met an “untimely and inhumane” death last year because of “serious inadequacies” within the social services sector.