New era begins in child protection
Chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, Tanya Ward, said: “The new agency will completely reform the child-protection and family support landscape in Ireland. Anyone involved in child protection or welfare has known, for years, that the system is broken. Countless reports have pointed to a number of failings in a dysfunctional system; where cooperation between agencies is poor, responses to welfare concerns are too late, and frontline services are struggling to cope”.
The agency will absorb the child-protection and welfare services currently carried out by the HSE. It will include the Family Support Agency, the National Education Welfare Board, pre-school inspection and services relating to the psychological welfare of children, and to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
“We acknowledge the work of Minister Fitzgerald, and her officials, with this significant example of public-sector reform to deal with a pressing problem,” Ms Ward said. “We welcome, in particular, that two of the key principles of the United Nations on the Rights of the Child are enshrined into the law underpinning the new body; namely the ‘best interests of the child’ and the ‘voice of the child’.”
Agency workers will be required to consider the best interests of the child and there will be a legal requirement to listen to the views of the child. This strengthens children’s rights in Irish law.
A number of issues remain to be ironed out, including the carry-over of a deficit from the HSE into the new agency. We are also concerned that social workers, who are the backbone of the child-protection system, are not being replaced when they go on maternity leave. The recent Child Care Law Reporting Project also unearthed a considerable disparity in dealing with child welfare.
The intention of this agency is to improve the lot of children and families in Ireland.
The Irish child-protection system has been bedevilled for many years by inconsistent and inadequate services. Hopefully, with this new agency, we can leave this damaging legacy behind us.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
