Madam, – Responding to the truly shocking, but quite unsurprising report from Hiqa on child protection services, I note that Minister for Children Barry Andrews says there will be consequences for those who fail to deliver services of adequate standard (Home News, July 16th). I respect Mr Andrews’s sincerity, but I fear he is wrong.
The public sector seems to be run to ensure that there are no consequences for poor performance. At best, some luckless front-line worker, in this case probably a social worker, will be hung out to dry for what are obviously severe system failures. There is no chance of any of the responsible senior managers in HSE, from the CEO down, paying any price for this grotesque, and well-known, failure.
This should not be a surprise. Gross and obvious incompetence by senior managers in local authorities, in major State agencies, and in government departments, in my experience, is routinely ignored. Fás was only the tip of this iceberg. This is intensely demoralising for the competent, committed, and capable staff, who form, in my experience, the majority of public sector employees (and managers), in local authorities, and in central government, and, yes, even in HSE.
If there is to be a proper response to this latest fiasco, and not just more empty words while children suffer, there must be prompt and tough responses. Unless very senior heads roll, and roll swiftly, we will know that Mr Andrews’s very fine words, will butter no parsnips. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Irish Association of Social Workers welcomes the findings of the Hiqa reports into the fostering service of the HSE in three Dublin areas. The reports highlight again failures to provide adequate and safe care of the children by not allocating a social worker to every child in care. Social workers welcome the view of the chief executive of Hiqa, Dr Tracey Cooper, that this situation is “serious and unacceptable”.
The Hiqa reports identified good practice and included the views of children and foster carers who stated that where cases were allocated there was evidence of good practice and the allocated social workers “were committed and dedicated professionals, who worked in complex and stressful situations but held as their main concern the welfare of the children on their case load”.
Social workers continue to be concerned that vulnerable children continue to be placed by the HSE in the care of people who have not been fully assessed and fully approved. This situation reflects the lack of priority given by the HSE to fully resource social work services so that fostering social workers, for example, can undertake comprehensive and timely assessments. We also welcome the finding in the reports that there was no strategic planning of foster care by HSE senior management, an experience shared by many social workers.
The association calls for the full resourcing of social work teams with social work, administrative and other support positions. Given that children and families living within 10 miles of each other have very different experiences of the foster care system, social workers demand that the HSE also to address the inequality of service provision by allocating a social worker to every child in care. – Yours, etc,