Child protection system unfit, says HSE family chief

IRELAND needs a properly functioning child protection system, the national director of children and family services for the Health Service Executive (HSE) said yesterday.

“It is my honest belief that Ireland doesn’t have a child protection system,” said Gordon Jeyes. “It is so inconsistent.”

Mr Jeyes, appointed in December following widespread concern about the deaths of children in care, said there were no clear child protection thresholds applied consistently across the country.