Call for review of care for unaccompanied child asylum seekers

A senior HSE official has said the system of caring for young unaccompanied asylum seekers needs to be reviewed.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Assistant National Director for Children and Families Philip Garland said these children are not as well looked after as Irish children in care, and that accusations of "racist" policies, made by voluntary groups, should be looked at.

Garland, who worked for the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin for six years before being appointed to his current post in November, told the newspaper that there needed to be a change of culture in how the State and the church dealt with children.

A damning report last year found 454 children went missing while staying in hostels run by the HSE