Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. How many children have gone missing from foster care?

I questioned the Minister of State on this matter last February and he said the issue had attracted a high level of concentration from the Government and that while there has been a fall-off in the number of children disappearing in 2008, he was not going to become complacent about it. If that is the case, how did we lose five children every single month for the first nine months of this year? Is it not the case that we have lost twice as many children in the first nine months of this year as the whole of last year?

In February, the Minister of State told us that 24-hour care was being provided to these children. I draw attention to the report of the Ombudsman for Children, which pointed out that security guards provide care after 6 p.m. The Ombudsman for Children stated that one of the children she dealt with in the report disappeared and did not make it onto the missing children website. If that is the case, how is the Garda protocol operating when the child working directly with the Ombudsman for Children has evaporated?

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