REACTION:FEELINGS OF "shock and anger" will arise from the publication of yesterday's HSE report, Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews said last night.
“Children suffered at the hands of parents and State services failed to protect vulnerable children. I wish to offer my sincere apology to each of the six children for the failure of State services to respond properly to their needs,” Mr Andrews said.
The children in the case, he said, were innocent victims and were failed in the first instance by their parents, their primary carers. “Where parents fail in their duty to care for their children, the State has a constitutional responsibility to take the place of parents.”
Mr Andrews said the report raised many questions, not least why concerns of ongoing neglect did not lead to decisive action at an earlier stage. He was “particularly concerned” that the views of the children were not listened to.
He said he would study the report closely over the coming days “and it is my intention to meet with the HSE to hear how they propose to implement the recommendations”.
Opposition parties and children’s charities called on the Government to honour its commitment to hold a referendum on children’s rights.
Fine Gael spokesman on children Charlie Flanagan said the report described how the health authorities drastically failed the children involved and “the voice of the child is virtually silent in the case. This again illustrates the need for a referendum on amending the Irish Constitution to enshrine children’s rights and, as the report says, ‘ensure that the voice of the child is heard when courts are considering the matters that affect them’,” he said.
Mr Flanagan said the Constitution in its present format did not fully recognise the painful reality that a small minority of children were being abused by their own families. “I am calling on the Government to press ahead with the referendum as a matter of urgency,” he said.
The Children’s Rights Alliance, a coalition of groups working to bolster and protect children’s rights, said a referendum to protect children was required.
“The findings of the report detail how the State and the legal system spectacularly failed the children in this case. The report clearly shows that [the parents] successfully blocked the State from intervening to protect the children, by citing their constitutional rights as a marital family. The court proceedings left the HSE feeling powerless to act,” said Jillian van Turnhout, chief executive of the alliance.
Ms van Turnhout said it was clear constitutional reform must take place as a matter of urgency to ensure all children were protected.The Irish Association of Social Workers said the report highlighted the severe shortage of staff in the childcare services.
Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said the report chronicled the “ongoing and complete failure on the part of the HSE” to adequately respond to the needs of children who were left at risk of very serious harm for too many years. He said the Government must move immediately to put legislation in place that would standardise good practice in child protection work.
Labour Party spokesman on children Senator Alex White welcomed the “unreserved and unequivocal” apology issued by the HSE and said he hoped it marked a new dawn in the organisation’s response to crisis. He called on the Government to stop stalling on a children’s rights referendum.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre welcomed publication of the report and called for a referendum on children’s rights.