Child welfare system ‘broken, dysfunctional’

THE country’s child welfare system is in dire need of an overhaul, Barnardos said yesterday on the back of new information regarding injuries sustained by children in care.

Following the disclosure of the figures in the Irish Examiner yesterday, Barnardos said the current system was “broken and dysfunctional”.

Documents released to the Irish Examiner under Freedom of Information relating to children in care in the Dublin/Mid-Leinster region highlighted incidents in which teenage girls were raped having absconded from care, children as young as nine and 10 were self-harming and physical and sexual abuse was carried out by foster carers.