THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) has not been able to fill all of the additional children and family services posts set out in the Government’s plan for implementing the Ryan report on child abuse due to a funding shortage.
However, the HSE said last night that the appointment of nearly 45 additional specialist therapist positions, which have been delayed, would take place this year.
Under the Government’s implementation plan for the Ryan report, 265 additional children and family service posts were to be created last year. About 200 of these were to be social worker positions, with the balance made up of therapist posts.
However an internal Department of Health briefing paper, drawn up for Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Coughlan in recent weeks, reveals that not all of these have been filled due to funding difficulties.
The report says the employment control framework for the HSE for 2010-2012 provided for an additional 265 posts for the implementation of the Ryan report.
“However, the HSE has recently advised that the number of posts has been reduced to 221 in 2010, due to the assessment of a lack of funding to carry forward full costs into 2011.”
A spokeswoman for the HSE said last night that just over 200 additional social workers posts had been established last year. She said that 20 therapist positions had also been filled.
The spokeswoman said that due to a funding issue, the remaining 44 therapist positions, set out originally in the Ryan report implementation plan, had not been filled last year. She said this funding issue had now been resolved.
The spokeswoman said the remaining 44 special therapist positions would be established this year under a €9 million funding allocation set out in the HSE’s service plan for the year.
The Ryan report was published in May 2009 and followed a nine-year investigation by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse into residential institutions run by Catholic religious congregations in this State during the middle decades of the last century.
The commission was chaired by High Court judge Mr Justice Seán Ryan.
Among its recommendations were that “more counselling, education and family tracing services should be provided” where the care of children was concerned.
It also said “proper supervision and inspections are essential, including unannounced inspections, objective national standards and follow-up of complaints”.