A helpline for missing children and their parents was officially launched today after close to six months in operation.
The ISPCC’s 116 000 Missing Children’s Hotline will be manned 365 days a year, with 24 hour assistance for those in need. As well as offering direct assistance for those in need, the hotline can also send an automated supportive message to a young person who is missing or thought to have run away. The text will let them know about the confidential, freephone number.
The hotline was launched with the support of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the European Commission.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald said everyone in the room knows how frightening it can be to lose a child, even for half an hour, but for a child to be marked as missing, it would "strike terror into the heart".
“For those children who are still missing and even for those who may be considered missing only for one day, there is a family member or significant other who is worried, frightened and distressed and that there is a child out there feeling scared and alone because they are either in danger or have left their home,” she said.
“The 116000 Hotline is now available as an extra resource to these families and children. It will help provide the emotional support and information needed during such a difficult time.”
Ms Fitzgerald said that over a number of years in the European Union, up to one million children go missing. She added that in 2011, 6,388, with 11 cases remaining open last year.
“I can’t help being frightened every time I look at the statistics. It says so much about our society. Each one of these is a family. Is a child.”
The chief executive of the ISPCC Ashley Balbirnie said a child going missing is a parent’s worst nightmare.
“The ISPCC has extensive experience providing listening services to children as we are now in our 25th year of Childline so we feel that running this hotline is something that we are well placed to do.”
ISPCC Regional Manager Rhona McGinn said that if there was one message she wanted to get across during the launch, it would be that the hotline is available to offer emotional support and not to provide an emergency service.
“In an emergency, when a child is thought to be missing, it is vital that the parents call the Gardaí without delay.
“The ISPCC is there after initial contact has been made with the Gardaí to provide emotional support.”