Hundreds of suspected cases of child abuse and neglect reported to the Eastern Health Board, are not being investigated for months because of lack of resources.
A year ago, up to 1,000 of these cases in the health board area were awaiting examination but this number had been whittled down to several hundred, sources said.
According to a spokeswoman for the EHB, the latest figures, which cover 1996, show that 2,368 cases were reported. Of these, 970 related to sex abuse; 581 involved physical abuse; 698 related to neglect and the remaining cases concerned emotional problems.
Of the cases dealt with, 39 per cent were confirmed; 11 per cent were unfounded; 24 per cent were unconfirmed "with the case closed"; 27 per cent of cases involved continuing investigation.
The EHB could not state how many of the reported cases were investigated. But a spokeswoman said the board's workload had been most dramatically increased as a result in the rise of reported suspicions.
The Minister of State with special responsibility for children, Mr Frank Fahey, said last night there were not enough resources, despite an injection of an extra £13 million into the child-care services this year.
"It is particularly bad in the Eastern Health Board area. There are children seriously at risk, in the Dublin area particularly, where the response is not adequate," he said.
The chairwoman of the Eastern Health Board, Ms Roisin Shortall TD, said she was "seriously concerned about the delays . . . there are serious strains on the service and they are not adequate to deal with the volume in child welfare cases, including child sex abuse, physical abuse and neglect".
According to the Minister, 80 per cent of the child-care budget was being spent on investigation and only 20 per cent on intervention. This ratio should be brought to 50-50.
Meanwhile, the proposed working group - announced earlier this week by Mr Fahey - will draw up new protocols and procedures for dealing with child abuse cases. "This will be a forerunner of legislation on mandatory reporting. This (legislation) will be in the lifetime of this Government. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has assured me he will give support to my efforts to deal with the problem of children at risk and abused children. We are putting a comprehensive package in place," Mr Fahey said.
Ms Shortall said she would "not disagree with the general tenor" of the position paper on mandatory reporting from the Irish College of General Practitioners. Mandatory reporting had become a "buzz term" but many people did not understand what it entailed.