As long as children are not protected by law, what hope is there?

JUST over a year ago the Ryan Report shocked Irish people with its revelations regarding systematic cruelty and abuse of hundreds of thousands of children in residential institutions.

This week we are confronted with an equally appalling account of the lives of six children, living within their family, under constant supervision by an array of HSE professionals.

The ‘Family A’ report is scathing about the inept decisions made over a 15-year period by the HSE which utterly failed to protect the children from horrifying neglect and abuse. However, this report is only the latest in a series concerning abuse within the family, stretching back to the Kilkenny incest case. Each report made sensible recommendations, most of which have never been implemented.