Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for attending. As she recalls, she informed me at an Oireachtas committee meeting last July that the audit had been completed and that the report was being prepared, yet the report had been completed three months previously by the consultant, Ms Lynne Peyton. Frustratingly, Ms Peyton discussed the audit's conclusions at a conference in Belfast whereas it took 14 months for the HSE to publish the report.

Since 2005, there have been warnings about inadequate resources and calls for additional social workers in Roscommon to deal with child protection and neglect cases. It was a time of affluence and there appeared to be no shortage of money in some quarters, yet child protection referrals in Roscommon trebled between 2005 and 2009. The case in Waterford was roughly the same. The number of neglect cases increased fourfold, but it was 2010 before additional staff were recruited. At one point, Roscommon was said to be dangerously understaffed. In Castlerea, the staffing arrangement was described as unsafe. Social workers in Roscommon had an average caseload of approximately double the national recommended level at 35 versus 17.5. The National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, threatened to withdraw registration unless staffing issues were addressed.

This situation was reflected to some extent in all three of the areas focused on in the report, showing a historical lack of suitably qualified social work staff and resources. In County Roscommon, 180 children have been on a waiting list for psychological services for two years. Nationally, the report highlighted inadequate provision of protection in the case of one in every five families in the neglect category. In County Roscommon, that figure was seven out of 30 families. Nationally, the audit identified 17 families as having been failed miserably by the State. It is important to remember that the audit only represents a small snapshot of the numbers throughout the country. That it took 20 to 30 referrals from a number of agencies for a social worker to be appointed is a damning indictment of the national services in terms of the level of priority they give to the issue of neglect.

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