Child protection - Screening failure adds to child risks

AS he has done so very often, Fr Peter McVerry yesterday put our latest round of hand-wringing about child protection services into a damming perspective.

He reminded us that Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan have repeatedly assured us they will do all that is necessary to ensure Ireland’s discredited banks stay open.

That will cost anything up to €80 billion in direct State interventions and many millions more in lost business and employment opportunities because of the credit debacle choking enterprise around the country.