State should pay up for vital service

DESPITE all the publicity about the incidence of child sexual abuse in Irish society, the problem appears to be getting worse, if the experience of an organisation working at the cliff face of the crisis is anything to go by.

So overwhelmed is one of the country’s leading child protection groups that it is encountering major financial problems.

Because it is a voluntary body, the organisation called Children at Risk in Ireland (CARI), is heavily reliant on fundraising.

A measure of the importance of its work can be gauged from the fact that it provides support and advice for around 50 families every month. However, it is now struggling to cope with the growing demand for its services.

If ever there was a case for the Government to offer financial support to a voluntary group performing outstanding work, this is it. By any yardstick, spending money on combating child sexual abuse would be better than splurging millions on a helicopter to fly ministers around.