THE value of the Childline service, which last year received 144,000 calls from children, has been thrown into doubt by the eight health boards, who say the service brought to light very few cases of child abuse.
Some boards say they learned of no cases about which they did not already know. Almost all say they are unable to follow up most Childline referrals because too little information is provided.
This view is disputed by the ISPCC's chief executive, Mr Cian O'Tighearnaigh, who challenged the boards and the Department of Health to produce a comprehensive statement that he could query "chapter and verse".
The eight health boards were replying to queries from The Irish Times. Each was asked if it knew of any case in which the abuse of a child was detected as a result of a referral from Childline.
The Eastern Health Board said it had complete figures from two of its 10 community care areas for 1996 and that Childline had not led to the discovery of any new cases of abuse in those areas. The Midlands Health Board said that over the nine years Childline had operated, it learned of "fewer than 10" previously unknown cases.
The Midwestern Health Board said it learned of no new cases from Childline last year.
The North Western Health Board said it has learned of one new case from Childline, while the South Eastern Health Board said it had learned of no new cases. The North Eastern Health Board said it had followed up seven cases which it had heard of from Childline but was unable to say whether they had previously been known to the board.
The Southern Health Board said it received 30 referrals last year which it was able to follow up. Information on how many involved abuse or potential abuse and how many were previously unknown is expected this week. A board official said the number of new cases received from Childline was insignificant".
The Western Health Board said that over the past three years it had received a total of three new cases from Childline.
Mr O'Tighearnaigh dismissed the results of The Irish Times queries as "rumour in canteens and, coffee shops". He wanted to emphasise that Childline was in a child abuse referral line and never had been since its launch in 1988, but Childline accounts for about one tenth of referrals to the health boards, he said. It lived up fully to its obligation under the Department of Health child abuse guidelines to report any knowledge, suspicion or concern that children were at risk.
"I am very clear from the courts of law that Childline has played a significant role in bringing child abuse not otherwise known or acted upon to notice," he said. Apart from bringing new cases to light, Childline plays an invaluable role in providing health boards with new information on existing cases, he added.
Such new information can be invaluable, he said.
"Every community care social worker knows well that referrals from Childline are a relevant part of the process." Fewer than one third of Childline calls were about child abuse, he said. The service "gives a place and a space to children to talk about what happens in their lives".
. The ISPCC says Childline has received 647,000 calls since its launch in 1988. Fewer than half 306,000 "involved a clear two way communication and discussion". Of these, 17 per cent referred to sexual abuse.