False abuse claims ‘need sanctions’

New child protection laws need to include sanctions for people who knowingly make false reports, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.

Child law expert Geoffrey Shannon, who is also a Government-appointed rapporteur, said the draft heads of Children First Bill 2012 also need to include emotional abuse alongside other types of abuse such as sexual and physical abuse.

The bill does not include emotional abuse as a category, even though it emerged this week that 2,500 cases of alleged emotional abuse were referred to the HSE in 2010.