30,000 referrals over child concerns in 2012

A staggering 30,000 plus referrals were made to social services last year on foot of concerns about child abuse and child welfare, a HSE report shows.

Despite these numbers — prompted by suspicions of neglect and/or physical/sexual abuse — the Government has yet to enact legislation that would underpin Children First, the national guidance for the protection and welfare of children.

A spokesman for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs said the Children First Bill was “priority legislation” this year, but that there were a lot of issues to be resolved on foot of points raised by the joint Oireachtas committee on health and children, which considered the heads of the bill, a document designed to secure approval to draft a formal bill.