Out-of-hours service - Vulnerable children deserve care

At its annual conference this week the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors highlighted the need for an out-of-hours service for the care and welfare of children in need.

Parenting has always been more than an eight-hour day and five-day week responsibility. The problems of vulnerable children in need of help cannot be pigeonholed into the hours of a normal working week.

There is no out-of-hours social service available for children in need of care outside Dublin.