Protecting children - Clarification is essential

THE suggestion, as yet unconfirmed by the Minister for Children Barry Andrews or the Health Services Executive, that up to 200 children have died while in the care of the state over that last decade is astounding.

It is equally astounding that the minister or the HSE do not have accurate figures available at the touch of a button. The figure usually quoted in this debate is less than 30 and if that is a huge underestimation then Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter is right to call for an “immediate” response from the minister.

The really worrying thing about this claim is that it might just be true – how can a country that has been forced to accept the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy reports have any confidence that it might not be?

Though Government has promised to introduce child protection measures, it has failed to convince many of those working in the field that it is addressing the issues with the urgency required. This claim, and the state’s inability to refute it or confirm it, suggests that we have even further to go than we thought. An immediate and unambiguous statement is required.