Boys left care home to take drugs inspection finds

An unannounced inspection of a Co Kerry residential care home found that the boys living there were regularly leaving the centre to take illegal substances.

The Health Information and Quality Authority found that the centre did not have the capacity to safely manage the high-risk behaviours of the boys there - leaving the children at risk.

At the time of the inspection by the health watchdog last July, the centre was home to three boys, aged between 13 and 18.

HIQA's inspection found that the children had returned to the centre on many occasions under the influence of drugs - and that they would often leave late at night and not return for hours.

The Child and Family Agency said it has accepted the findings of the report and that a number of improvements have been made since the inspection.

However, the agency's action plan was not published by HIQA as the inspectors were not satisfied with it.