The systemic failings that led to the deaths of children in violent and abusive domestic incidents will be independently investigated under new national reviews.
Ireland does not collect comprehensive data on the number of children who die of unnatural causes and, until now, families have struggled to access information about how and why their children died in cases of homicide and familicide.
Within the Government, officials in the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Children have been considering new national reviews into the deaths of children that would have more power and follow stricter timelines than existing review processes.
Jim O’Callaghan’s department is planning to set up new multi-agency investigations when children have died as a result of violence, abuse or neglect in the home. The proposed reviews would include instances where a child has been killed by a relative or a non-relative in cases of domestic or family violence.
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The reviews into the deaths of children would form part of new domestic homicide reviews (DHRs) – the long-awaited reform of how the State responds to the crime of familicide.
Since 2019 successive ministers for justice have indicated that they would support new DHRs, which would bring a number of agencies together to try to understand how and why a person has been killed during an incident of domestic violence.
The DHRs, which already exist in the UK, are intended to identify systemic failings but they are not tasked with apportioning blame. A landmark 2023 report, which followed public calls from the family of Clodagh Hawe and other domestic homicide survivors, recommended DHRs but progress since then has been slow.
Clodagh (39) and her sons Liam (13), Niall (11) and Ryan (6) were killed by her husband and their father Alan Hawe (40) in 2016 at their home in Co Cavan. Alan Hawe then took his own life.
In response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly, O’Callaghan said his department is setting up a new DHR model, and is seeking advice about whether or not the measure will require legislation.
“It is anticipated that the scope of the review process will include cases where children have died by or through the actions of a relative where the cause and context of the death appears to be as a result of violence, abuse or neglect, as well as cases where the death of a child has, or appears to have, resulted from violence by someone to whom the deceased was not related but which occurred during an incident of domestic or family violence,” O’Callaghan said.
He said his department was “liaising” with the Department of Children, as there were “potential similarities” between O’Callaghan’s plans and calls for the Government to set up new statutory child death reviews.
The Ombudsman for Children has consistently argued that Ireland needs an independent statutory child death review mechanism, based on the number of families who complain to the ombudsman about the difficulty they experience accessing information about the death of their child.
The Programme for Government commits to setting up such statutory child death reviews, and the Department of Children said it is under “active consideration” within Government including discussions with the Department of the Taoiseach.
A spokesman for the Department of the Taoiseach said “consideration to include future statutory child death reviews under domestic homicide reviews is solely within the policy remit of the Department of Justice”.
Minister for Children Norma Foley said last year that setting up new child death reviews was “not in the remit of the Department of Children” and the Government still had not decided which department would be responsible for leading the proposal. Earlier this year, the Minister said the Government was still working to establish the best “lead organisation” for child death reviews.
