Ireland ‘needs 2,000 more social workers’

IRELAND needs up to 2,000 additional social workers to bring child protection services up to the same standard as in the North, social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry has said.

Fr McVerry, who has worked with troubled youths for 20 years, said it was ironic listening to concerns about child protection in the Church, when the state is the bigger offender.

Fr McVerry said things are “appalling” and that a lack of resources was part of this, claiming an extra 2,000 staff are needed.

“That is just not going to happen, so there is not a hope of adequate services. We are listening to all the issues within the Church but the state is the biggest failure of all when it comes to child protection.”

Jennifer Gargan, head of EPIC, formerly the Irish Association of Young People in Care, said there are serious inconsistencies within child protection services as there are no common risk assessment processes. So where one social worker might identify a child who is neglected as being a child at risk, another might not.

“We have to accept that the system is seriously flawed, but also that genuine efforts are being made to address this. But while this happens, children’s lives go on and we cannot continue to have cases where young people are being left in situations which are not safe.

“The consequences for a child are life-long and the Government has to show total commitment to this if it is to succeed.”

Ms Gargan said the state has even more responsibility to look after a child than a family does when he or she is taken into care.

“When a child is taken into care, the state is in loco parentis — instead of the parent — so there is even more of a need to look after that child because he or she has been taken from her natural family. There is not only a legal right but a moral right.”

Ms Gargan said the system is fragmented, inconsistent and badly managed, and that putting systems and structures in place under the Children First guidelines was the first step to ensuring children will be protected.

Meanwhile, Barnardos chief Fergus Finlay called on HSE national director for children and families Gordon Jeyes to address resourcing concerns.

“We need clarity about the realities facing social workers on the ground.

“Social workers have raised concerns about overwhelming case loads, recruitment bans to cover staff on leave and the resultant inability to respond to referrals. These issues must be addressed structurally within the HSE to ensure that management and services are on the same page when it comes to child welfare and protection.”

He said the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency offers hope for reform in this respect.