MINISTER OF State for Children Barry Andrews said yesterday that while it appeared the State had abandoned the children at the centre of the Roscommon incest case, it was too early to jump to conclusions.
He said he would wait for the Health Service Executive to complete its initial investigation into its handling of the case before deciding on further action.
Mr Andrews also acknowledged there were still gaps in the child-protection services and insisted he was working closely with the HSE to improve the system.
“It looks on the outside as if the State completely abandoned the child, but that may not be the case. It may well be that proper procedures were followed.”
Mr Andrews also acknowledged that more could be done to ensure child-protection teams were properly resourced and able to meet the needs of children at risk.
“I’m in contact with the HSE to monitor the resources available to social work and child protection teams. There is no doubt that there are areas where improvements have to be made.
“We’re trying to ensure that the legacy of the old health board system, where there may have been gaps in child protection or duplication, is being dealt with.”
The HSE is due to complete a preliminary investigation into its handling of the incest case shortly.
It emerged over recent days that social services had been in contact with the family over an eight-year period before the six children concerned were taken into care.
Fine Gael, meanwhile, has accused successive Fianna Fáil-led governments of failing to implement any of the recommendations from a series of major reports arising from child abuse cases over the past 12 years.
The party’s spokesman on children, Alan Shatter, said the “utter failure” of government or agencies to apply the law or lessons from these reports had resulted in tragic cases like the one involving the family in Co Roscommon this week.
He instanced previous reports into the death of Co Mayo teenager Kelly Fitzgerald and the report of the inquiry into abuse of the McColgan children, including Sophia McColgan, in Co Sligo.
“The truth is that we have the law necessary to protect the children in Roscommon. We have the guidelines necessary to make sure that social workers intervene and do their job properly. The problem isn’t that the law or child guidelines are defective, the problem is that the system is broken and does not work.”
Mr Shatter also said that Fine Gael would bring a private members’ motion before the Dáil next week seeking the establishment of an independent commission to investigate how the agencies dealt with the mother convicted of incest and child abuse and neglecting the welfare of her six children.
He also distributed copies of a 1996 report by the Oireachtas joint committee, of which he was a member – into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kelly Fitzgerald (15), who suffered abuse at the hands of her parents.
The report indicted the Western Health Board for its failures to protect this young 15-year-old girl. At the time this report was published, this health board was already involved with the Roscommon family.
“This health board pledged to implement the recommendations contained in this report,” he said. However, many of these had not been put in place.
In its private members’ motion, Fine Gael calls for an independent commission to examine the role of the former Western health board, the HSE, all school and religious authorities and any personnel who had contact with the six children including doctors and nurses.