Childcare case - Litany of failures

PARENTAL neglect of children ranks among the most heinous of crimes. Yet, in the notorious Roscommon childcare case it is matched by the abject failure of an agency of the state to intervene in time to protect the rights of the six children.

The fact that the HSE has issued an “unreserved and unequivocal” apology is a stark measure of a litany of abject failure to protect children consistently neglected for years under the noses of the relevant authorities.

Both parents have been before the courts and both convicted. But that does not excuse the blindness of social workers to the sexual abuse and rat infested conditions the children were forced to endure.

In any other walk of life those responsible would be fired. In the health service, however, they will probably retire on full pension.

Regarding the HSE, perhaps the best that can be said of this disturbing case is that for a change they have come out with their hands up. And yet the burning question on the lips of every child trapped in similar circumstances is this — how often in the years ahead will the HSE again have to apologise before the lessons of such tragedies are finally driven home.