Health authorities have pledged to improve child protection services after new figures showed that up to 35 young people who were known to social services have died since over the past 18 months.
Official figures released today show that most young people died from natural causes, followed by suicide, accidents and drug overdoses.
The majority of cases relate to children who were known to social services or previously had contact with child protection services. Only a handful of children were formally in the care system.
The figures are contained in a series of reports compiled by the HSE's National Review Panel for Serious incidents. This group was established to investigate the serious incidents in childcare services and deaths of children known to the child protection system.
Dr Helen Buckley of Trinity College Dublin, who is the independent chair of the group, said there was no evidence that the deaths of children were directly linked to the inaction of social services.
However, she said the group found evidence of some serious failures by health authorities to implement their own policies in dealing with child welfare or abuse concerns.
Among these gaps in social services were:
* The lack of a standardised method for assessing the needs of children and young people who come to the attention of social services.
* A lack of co-operation and communication between different agencies responsible for providing services to children at risk
* Pressure on front-line social work services who are unable to cope with the volume of referrals.
Dr Buckley also said there were cases that were handled well. In these, agencies had typically worked well and collaborated together to achieve the best possible outcomes for children.
Paul Harrison, the HSE's national child care specialist, sympathised with families who have lost children.
He said the executive was working to introduce standardised assessments of children at risk on a national basis from next year onwards.
In addition, he said officials are examining new ways of handling "how cases come in through the front door", and making using making greater use of community and voluntary groups.
The National Review Panel was introduced following concern over the HSE's child protection service and lack of transparency regarding child deaths.
A HSE report into the death of Tracey Fay was withheld for years before it was leaked to The Irish Times in January 2009, as well details of the deaths of other young people in care.
The HSE provoked controversy when it could not say definitively how many children in contact with care had died over the past decade. It provided various figures ranging from 21 to 37 in 2010, before finally revising its figures to more than 200.
