Progress as sure-footed as Titanic’s

It was only in mid-May that the Referendum Commission severely criticised the €1m information campaign conducted by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in advance of the referendum to amend the Constitution, on the grounds that it was costly and confusing and that the minister did allow sufficient time for the Commission to prepare an adequate information campaign.

The Prime Time exposé of the pervasive low standards and flagrant disregard of regulations in the childcare sector illustrated how the authority of the State has once again been flagrantly challenged with impunity.

The absence of any relevant bureaucrats from the subsequent panel discussions has done little to quell public alarm at what appears to be rudderless leadership, ambiguous oversight and an absence of relevant, coordinated high-level data and analysis upon which to make timely interventions and critical decisions.