More children in care over parents’ alcohol abuse

More and more children are being taken into care due to families’ problems with drugs and alcohol addiction, according to the Frances Fitzgerald, the children’s minister.

There are now 6,160 children in care, up from 5,727 during 2011, and a 13% increase since 2006.

Fiona Ryan, head of Alcohol Action Ireland, said it was amazing how little attention the issue of parental alcohol abuse got considering the number of children affected by the problem.