TAOISEACH BERTIE Ahern said yesterday he believed that the HSE was doing a good job in providing child and family services, after a new report found major shortcomings in child protection services.
Mr Ahern said there would probably never be enough resources for children's care but there had been a lot of investment in recent years.
Yesterday The Irish Timesrevealed that a HSE national review of child and family services had found major shortcomings in child protection services, with many social work teams reporting long waiting lists of child abuse referrals. It found that health authorities were not able to respond adequately to hundreds of cases of children at risk due to staff shortages and the under-resourcing of social work teams.
Mr Ahern said that the HSE staff embargo was introduced only in September. "Before that we had 10 years of the numbers going up and up. But that's not to say you don't always need more resources," he said.
The Taoiseach said there had been a 17 per cent increase in the number of social workers employed in the health service since the HSE was established in 2005. This was "an enormous increase", Mr Ahern said, and added that spending on child protection and social work services had increased from €45 million to €81 million in the last five years.
"And in all cases where there is a serious and immediate risk to the health and welfare of children, the HSE responds immediately so I think they're doing a good job."
He was speaking after he launched Barnardos's latest family support project in Buckingham Street in Dublin's inner city.
The project will target children who face severe or chronic threats to their wellbeing. It will work with children from birth to about 12 years old. The project is funded by Dublin City Council, the HSE and Barnardos.
Mr Ahern said everyone knew that the best place for a child to develop was at the heart of a nurturing, caring family. "We also know, however, that families can face many very serious difficulties which can disrupt effective parenting," he said.
Barnardos engaged on a daily basis with families caught up in difficult circumstances, supporting them and helping them in practical ways, Mr Ahern added.
" I understand that targeted support is to be provided to 20 vulnerable families who are facing severe and chronic difficulty. The focus will be on strengthening the parent-child relationship, building on strengths of parents and children and increasing coping capacities."
Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said the centre would work with parents who were over-burdened, stressed or had poor relationships with their children.
The new centre will be known as Paddy Wright House, after the late businessman who had a strong commitment to providing access to education to all children.
