CHILD protection agencies cannot guarantee parents will not harm their children, a senior health manager has warned.
The assumption that more money and more efficient procedures and staff can offer such a guarantee is mistaken, says Mr Denis Doherty, chief executive officer of the Midland and MidWestern health boards.
More money is needed but the public and media expectation that professionals can solve and manage all social problems must be questioned", he writes in a new book, Protecting Irish children investigation protection and welfare.
Mandatory reporting, a legal obligation on teachers, counsellors and others to report suspected child abuse, is presented by some as a simple solution. But the rights of people against whom false allegations are made must be considered in the debate.
So must the danger of young, pregnant women being afraid to go to doctors or hospitals. Mandatory reporting could create inhibitions between the counselled and their counsellors. And the cost of investigating allegations could reduce the amount of staff and money available for treatment and prevention.
Mr Doherty fears that scandals and inquiries could deter people from entering child care services and could deter those already there from staying.
Child protection staff, most of whom are women, are abused and threatened by people who systematically abuse children. They may also face collusion by family members. In many instances, they are dealing with people who are, due to a variety of factors, not able to function rationally or who are deliberately manipulative."
Yet, increasingly, staff operate in the knowledge that every action and decision they take may, in the future, be scrutinised and judged from the perspective of hind sight", writes Mr Doherty. An environment which combines pressure, fear and even isolation is an inappropriate one for people we expect to keep our most vulnerable children safe."
Mr Doherty's article is one of nine in the book which appears as an expanded issue of Administration, published by the Institution of Public Administration.
It is edited by Mr Harry Ferguson, senior lecturer in applied social studies at University College, Cork, and by Mr Tony McNamara of the IPA.