Report must be ‘watershed’ for child protection

The authors of the report into 196 deaths of children known to care services have called for it to be a watershed in how Ireland treats its children.

Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbons said the files they reviewed for the report highlighted serious shortcomings and the need for new long-term planning.

Mr Shannon said the report was “profoundly shocking and distressing”. He said it was not enough to lay the blame for mistakes at the door of the HSE and said society needed to address the underlying issues affecting many of the families that featured in the report.

Alcohol abuse was “a real evil in society” that impaired proper parenting and, alongside drug abuse, left care services facing “insurmountable obstacles”.

However, he said the HSE had shown itself “overwhelmingly inadequate” in its refusal to take responsibility.

“This is a devastating indictment of the child protection system,” he said, adding there was often “no decisive decision making” and that early intervention all-too-often meant crisis intervention.

Many social workers went beyond what was expected of them in a bid to work with their resources, while the HSE’s poor record keeping was “inexcusable”, alongside “weak and passive management” where warning signs were not dealt with sufficient seriousness.

He also criticised the amount of money spent in the High Court discharging special care orders when the money could be spent elsewhere on services, but welcomed plans announced by Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald to bolster aftercare provision and allow greater coverage of family law cases by changing the in camera rule.

He also called for the children’s referendum to enshrine the rights of the child so as to move away from “broken promises and hollow platitudes”.

Ms Gibbons said there should be a national guardian ad litem service.

HSE national director of child and family services Gordon Jeyes said it was “a disgrace” that the HSE had previously not known how many children had died.

He said he wanted full accountability and transparency in the system but could not say if anyone had lost their job over failings highlighted in the report.

* www.exa.mn/6h

Expert campaigners

Geoffrey Shannon is a solicitor and expert on child law. He was appointed the position of special rapporteur on child protection by the Government in 2006.

This means he is an independent legal expert whose job is to assess any legal developments on the protection of children. He was shortlisted by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe for their Human Rights Award 2010 for his contribution as a lawyer in the fight for human rights for children.

Norah Gibbons is the director of advocacy at Barnardos, the country’s leading independent children’s charity. Barnardos supports children whose wellbeing is under threat, by working with them, their families and communities. Its aim is to seek change and improvelegislation.

— Denise Calnan