Children in a care centre engaged in "highly inappropriate and high-risk behaviour", with one being assaulted at least five times, a report from the Irish Social Services Inspectorate (ISSI) has found.
The Dublin home was closed in March on the recommendation of ISSI inspectors. At that time it was caring for three boys and one girl, aged between 11 and 14.
The inspection report, which has just been published, found that the child protection system was "seriously flawed". It said the manager and staff had a "wholly inadequate understanding of, and response to, the risks to the young people's safety".
In October 2005, the young people were left unsupervised for a period of time. The report does not outline what happened, but said the "highly inappropriate and high-risk behaviour" had health implications for at least three residents. "One was not medically examined until approximately five months later and in relation to a separate, though related manner. The other two were not seen by a medical practitioner."
The centre recorded at least five assaults on one of the residents, even after a plan was put in place following the October event. "The first of these [ assaults] clearly occurred at a time when the young people involved were not being supervised by care staff," the report said. "Another incident involved a young person being 'targeted' for . . . two and a half hours during which two other young people screamed and shouted at her, threatened her, hit her over the head with a notice board and spat in her face."
Inspectors found that this was not just a failure within the centre. "HSE employees, including the monitoring and information officer and the social workers . . . were aware of the problems within the centre yet the system as a whole failed to respond to their concerns." Yesterday a HSE spokesman said an investigation was under way.
