POLITICAL REACTION:AN INDEPENDENT investigation should be immediately established into the Western Health Board's (WHB) dealings with a Co Roscommon family in which six children were subjected to a catalogue of neglect and abuse, Fine Gael and Labour have said.
Alan Shatter, Fine Gael spokesman on children, said the revelations of neglect and abuse of the children was shocking and disturbing and “the scandalous failure of the WHB to effectively intervene at an early stage” once more revealed the gross inadequacies and dysfunctional nature of our child-protection services.
“I am calling on the Minister for Children to immediately agree to the appointment of an independent commission of investigation to fully investigate and report on the health board’s dealings with this family and the reason why it took from 1989, when it is understood the family first came to the notice of the health board, to the end of 2004 for the children to be taken into care,” he said.
“All issues of relevance to what occurred must be investigated, including not only social work contact and deliberations, but also the children’s interaction with teachers, medical personnel and others in a position to report children at risk and to seek appropriate intervention,” he added.
Labour’s health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said what emerged at the Roscommon court was so shocking as to almost defy belief.
“We had all hoped that the appropriate lessons had been learned from previous cases that emerged during the 1990s, but here is yet another instance where children were let down by the institutions of the State and exposed to unspeakable neglect and abuse.
“I believe that the details of this case are so serious as to merit a full, independent investigation of all of the circumstances, including the role of the health board and the financing of the court case taken by the mother,” she said.
Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews said he had been in contact with the HSE – which had taken over from the health boards, including the WHB – and a preliminary investigation into the circumstances surrounding the case was already under way.
“I expect to receive this assessment within the next 24 to 48 hours, and on the basis of that initial assessment, I will decide future action,” he said.
He expressed shock and abhorrence at the circumstances of the case outlined in court.
The HSE said it had appointed a senior manager from outside the Roscommon area to carry out a preliminary review of the case.
“The HSE is continuing to support the family at the centre of this case. While we understand the interest in this case at present, we are prohibited under the 1991 Childcare Act from making any statement that would identify any child in our care,” it added. “This legislation is in place to protect the confidentiality of children who are the subject of a care order.”
The ISPCC, Barnardos and One in Four called for children’s rights to be recognised in the Constitution. ISPCC advocacy manager Mary Nicholson said: “It is unacceptable that children abused to this level fall through the cracks created by a Constitution that does not truly value children.”
One in Four said the case highlighted the fact that women too can abuse sexually. Executive director Maeve Lewis said each year, 3-5 per cent of One in Four’s clients disclosed sexual abuse by a female, usually somebody close to them.