The office of the Minister for Children and the Health Service Executive (HSE) have failed to properly implement child safety guidelines for almost a decade leaving children at risk of abuse.
This is the key finding of a major investigation by the Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan, who said it was impossible to tell if practice on the ground is any good now due to a lack of any internal or external audit of files.
"Some of the problems identified - variable practice, a lack of internal and external scrutiny, and a failure of inter agency collaboration - indicate a need for a fundamental change in culture and attitude towards child protection," said Ms Logan in a 95-page report on the implementation of the Children First guidelines for the protection and welfare of children.
The guidelines were first introduced by the Government in 1999 to provide guidance to staff working in the field of child protection. Its goals are to ensure that children are protected from abuse and that their welfare is protected.
The report identifies critical weaknesses in the child protection system, which should have been addressed through proper implementation of the guidelines.
* a failure in most parts of the country to provide 24 hour access to the Child Protection Notification System, which provides information on children at risk to health workers and the Garda
* a lack of formal cooperation between the HSE and Garda when a child is deemed at risk
* No external reviews or inspections of child care services have taken place since 2003
* just one area in the country - Cork/Kerry - conducted an internal audit of child protection case files
This audit in the Southern Health Board area, which was completed in 2003/4, uncovered worrying findings. Three-quarters of child protection
files had no record of the outcome of an assessment by social workers and initial assessments took 95 days on average, says the report.
The report makes two findings of "unsound administration" on the part of the Office of the Minister for Children. It said it failed to put in
place proper mechanisms to implement the guidelines between 2003 and 2008, which has led to a lack of collaboration between different State agencies.
It also criticises the department for failing to disclose an ongoing industrial relations dispute with Impact trade union, which means social workers do not process administrative aspects of the guidelines due to a lack of staff.