Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach's response to Deputy Enda Kenny is quite incredible. It is incredible the State is not in a position to tell us how many children have died in tis care. This is not about asking the HSE how many medical card applications were made in a period? This is about the deaths of children while they were in the State's care.

The Taoiseach stated the HSE believes the figure is 23. An article in The Sunday Business Post, however, stated the HSE believes approximately 200 children have died in State care in the past ten years. There is a big difference between 23 and 200. If it is as high as 200, then it is an extremely serious matter. The average mortality rate for children in the total population was 300, that is one in every 3,200 children. If the number of children dying in care is as high as 200 in the past ten years, an average at 20 per year, then it works out ten to 12 times the mortality rate in the wider population.

The Taoiseach tells us he does not know the number of children who have died in State care.

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