Archbishop: It is not the state’s job to raise children

THE Archbishop of Dublin has warned that giving the state greater responsibility for children will not automatically ensure improved child protection and increased child rights.

In a nod to the upcoming Children’s Rights Referendum, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin pointed to the state’s poor track record in caring for the vulnerable: “The record of the state in childcare in Ireland is not one that we can be proud of.”

He cited the health service, prison service and the state’s ongoing failure to provide quality care to children in their care as examples of “the weakness of state management”.