Irish Examiner view: Services for vulnerable children need to be improved

That there were 360 instances of children in State care going missing last year shows there is a need to provide more secure services to vulnerable teens.

There were 360 instances of children in State care going missing last year. Picture:File photo

It may not shake the State to its very foundations that seven diplomatic bags were lost by the Department of Foreign Affairs over the past two years.

The bags have particular status under international law. They may not be opened or intercepted while their couriers cannot be arrested or detained. Their loss is not a crisis, but it is embarrassing.

That there were 360 instances of children in State care going missing last year demands a very different, more proactive response.

Almost half of these cases took place in private residential centres, while the longest period a child was missing was almost three weeks. Those involved ranged from ages 11 to 17.

It is not difficult to imagine how very difficult it might be to manage or contain an energetic teenager, but our history of failing vulnerable children is so very shameful, that these figures must be a cause for real concern and provoke renewed efforts to provide more secure services.