The Health Service Executive is to undertake a national audit of chronic neglect cases involving vulnerable children following a damning report into its handling of the Roscommon abuse case.
The executive yesterday issued an “unreserved and unequivocal” apology to the six children of the family, admitting it failed to protect them from harm and neglect by their parents.
The HSE said it accepted in full the recommendations of an inquiry team that identified a litany of failures by the former Western Health Board to respond adequately to neglect concerns over a 14-year period.
Bernard Gloster, local health manager of HSE West, said: “This failure meant that the harm and neglect of the children and young adults in this family continued.”
Both parents have since been convicted before the courts. The mother – known only as “Mrs A” – received a sentence of seven years for incest, sexual assault and abuse. The father – “Mr B” – was sentenced to 12½ years for 47 counts of rape and assault.
Social services became aware of the family after the birth of the first child in 1989. Evidence of neglect mounted during the intervening years, with public health nurses, social workers, neighbours and relatives all expressing concern over issues ranging from poor hygiene and child neglect to squalid living conditions. Among the report’s findings were that:
- One of the children was born at home after the mother admitted to drinking 11 vodkas; she did not realise she was giving birth.
- The voices of the children were “virtually silent” and “fell on deaf ears” in legal proceedings where the parents’ right to be heard was not matched by that of the children.
- Social workers and other professionals did not challenge the parents about the effect their neglect was having on the children. This included head lice, dirty clothes, and a lack of underwear and pocket money.
- Many social work files were in no particular order, while in some cases key records were missing.
- Health authorities tried to take the children into care in 2000 but a group, described in court as a “Catholic right-wing organisation”, helped the mother financially and she won a High Court case blocking the order.
- The children were taken into care only in 2004 after a child expressed concern over abuse.
The report says a number of the children are now in secure and caring foster homes while others, now young adults, are with relatives.
Speaking this morning, child law expert and Special Rapporteur for Child Protection Geoffrey Shannon said resources were not to blame for the failure by the HSE to protect the children.
"I don't accept the argument that the deficiency was attributable to the absence of resources." Mr Shannon said: "It is quite clear if you read through this report that there were ample resources."
He said the HSE failed to protect the children from long-term neglect and that had devastating consequences for the children involved.
He said the children were "spectacularly failed by the system".
"There was too much deference to family support. Too much emphasis on parental rights and nobody seemed to be exorcised by child protection."
"We have got to acknowledge that in a small number of places the family can be a very dangerous place for the child to grow up," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Yesterday’s HSE apology followed a High Court ruling clearing the way for the report into the case to be published. In his judgment, Mr Justice John MacMenamin said the children were “remarkably brave and resilient” and wanted to lead their lives in a normal way. “We just want to be normal kids”, he quoted one as saying, while another asked: “Why are they listening to us now and they didn’t before?”
Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews offered his “sincere apology” to the children for the “failure of State services to respond properly to their needs”.
Opposition parties and children’s groups last night called on the Government to honour its commitment to hold a referendum on children’s rights.
The 107-page report sets out recommendations to help improve the response of social services to vulnerable children and families. It calls for lower case loads for new social workers, ensuring children’s voices are heard in cases affecting them, and training for social workers.
The HSE said yesterday it would implement the recommendations in full. It says it has commenced an audit into chronic abuse cases – headed by an independent expert – focusing on Roscommon and two other local health office areas in the south and Dublin mid-west. It is expected to widen its focus nationally. The audit could, potentially, involve a trawl through hundreds, if not thousands, of neglect cases.