THE South Eastern Health Board received 339 notifications of child sexual abuse last year, a 60 per cent increase on 1994, the annual conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland in Waterford was told yesterday.
Cases of child sexual abuse reported nationally rose from 5,152 in 1994 to 6,415 in 1995, an increase of almost 25 per cent.
In a session on the implications of the 1993 Report of the Kilkenny Incest Investigation, the conference heard that 156 cases of sexual abuse were confirmed by the SEHB in 1995, in addition to 141 cases of physical abuse and 222 cases of neglect. In 1994 82 confirmed cases of child sexual abuse from 210 cases were reported in the region.
Ms Sheila Kissane, a senior clinical psychologist with Wexford Community Care, said the rise in reporting was because more social workers and psychologists were working for the board and increased awareness resulting from the Kilkenny report's recommendations. She said the board was "operating on a mandatory reporting basis".
Following the report on the Kilkenny incest case, in which a child was systematically sexually abused by her father for 16 years despite more than 100 contacts with the health services in Carlow Kilkenny, the health services in the south east were criticised for "poor co ordination and poor inter professional communication".
The then minister for health, Mr Brendan Howlin, said it was regrettable that the services, which could have been expected to help the victim, had failed to grasp the "horrific reality".
The report's main recommendations included new child abuse guidelines, with written protocols for the investigation and management of cases; mandatory reporting; a child abuse register improved health boards and Garda liaison; and improved treatment for victims and abusers.
Ms Ann McCarthy, a SEHB senior clinical psychologist, said most of the recommendations had been implemented and they had all been the subject of consultation between voluntary and statutory bodies and the Department of Health.
Ms Fiona Hannan, a SEHB clinical psychologist, said that following the report's criticisms of inter professional co operation, guidelines between senior gardai and health board management on notification of child abuse cases were implenented. Joint training for both gardai and health board professionals was provided and "sector teams" were set up last year.
While 35 per cent of cases dealt with by the Wexford Clinic were intra familial, 78 per cent of those involved more than one incident of abuse. Almost 60 per cent of cases involved children under 12, with 14 per cent involving children under five.