The State’s Ombudsman for Children has said that a child protection report published today has made for ‘difficult reading’.
Dr Niall Muldoon was speaking just hours after the publication of the report, which was carried out to review the use of Section 12 - a provision which enables the members of An Garda Síochána to take a child from their home if they suspect they may be at risk.
The review was carried out by Professor Geoffrey Shannon, following the infamous incident of 2013, whereby two Roma children were removed from the care of their parents, in Dublin.
While Prof Shannon stated that there was no evidence of ‘over-zealous’ use of the powers under Section 12, a number of serious criticisms and concerns were raised.
The chief criticism in the report was the lack of cooperation between the Gardaí and other relevant bodies, such as Tusla, the child and family agency, which was described as ‘overwhelmingly inadequate’.
An example of this is in action is the finding that some children were taken from their families by the gardaí, only to then be returned to them by Tusla.
The lack of feedback from both organisations was also described by Prof Shannon as ‘frustrating’, and he insisted that the State needs to be more organised in order to ensure that no children ‘slip through the net’.
One particularly scathing entry to the report focused on the lack of adequate care that vulnerable children are receiving.
“The trauma inflicted on children by their parents sometimes is just staggering…Children are treated like human trash…I don’t use those words lightly…The narratives do not sugar-coat the barbaric treatment that some children suffer,” said Prof Shannon.
While Tusla responded to today’s report by highlighting that protocols have been reviewed and changed since some of these cases played out, Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon was highly critical.
“The report published today, detailing the use by An Garda Síochána of their child protection powers, clearly highlights an urgent need for improved interagency cooperation to protect young people,” he said, in a statement.
He added that ‘overwhelmingly inadequate interagency cooperation is not good enough and must be addressed immediately’.
“The failings highlighted by Dr Shannon, which include poor communication and a reluctance to share information, are unfortunately the same issues consistently raised in our dealing with Tusla.
“It is essential that all children receive the very best service available, and that means that all professionals interacting with young people should be working together. It also means that a service should be available at all times, to all children.”
It will be interesting to see what action comes of this report and these strong reactions.
