Incest children should have been in care, Harney admits

Health service staff who worked with children at the centre of the Roscommon incest case should have taken them into care "an awful lot sooner", Health Minister Mary Harney admitted today.

A 40-year-old alcoholic mother was jailed for seven years last week after pleading guilty to a harrowing catalogue of neglect – including forcing her then 13-year-old son to have sex with her.