Inside the Roscommon abuse case
For over a decade, various state authorities were aware of concerns that a family of six vulnerable children in Roscommon were being neglected and living in squalor. For many years, meetings were held and cases discussed while children suffered at the hands of their parents until finally, in 2004, the true horror of what they had endured came to light and some of the children were taken into care.
The investigation by child welfare experts, set up by the HSE, into these failings was made public yesterday afternoon. The report makes for grim, saddening and disturbing reading. It also sheds light on the massive failings of our childcare system.
What is striking is that for all those years, it was not that nobody raised red flags but that so many people knew and gave warnings. Many care personnel were involved with this family and many meetings were held, yet they came to nothing - there was little or no follow-up at times. And significantly, there was a revolving door of social workers, two unaccredited, assigned to this one dysfunctional family. It would appear that the goal of keeping the family together won out over the best interests of the children.
Edel McAllister and Keelin Shanley report on the background to this case and demonstrate through the report findings that the failures in our system allowed the nightmare to continue for these vulnerable siblings.
Minster for Children Barry Andrews and a HSE representative will join Richard Crowley in studio to discuss the report's findings and the need for a constitutional referendum on the rights of the child.
The report of the Inquiry Team to the HSE on the Roscommon Child Care Case can be read in full here.
In addition to this, RTÉ's Washington Correspondent Richard Downes reports on the US mid-term elections and what impact they may have on Barack Obama's presidency. You can read more about that on Richard's blog-post here.
