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.