Five staff at Limerick home for children seriously assaulted, HIQA finds

Five staff members at a Limerick care home for children were found by the health watchdog to have been seriously assaulted over a number of months.

Staff at Coovagh House interviewed by HIQA said they did not consider the staffing levels to be sufficient to ensure the safety of individual children.

Considerable damage was also caused to the special care unit.

Despite this, HIQA found that children’s rights were respected - and safe care practices had been implemented.

In a statement, EPIC, which works with children in care - said that there were encouraging results from the inspection report.