Rules on child protection 'implemented inconsistently'

A REVIEW of national child protection guidelines has found they are being implemented inconsistently by health authorities, the Garda and other agencies across the State.

The report by the Office of the Minister for Children also pointed to serious deficiencies, with a lack of support services such as an out- of-hours service for crisis cases and therapeutic interventions.

Overall, there was little evidence of confidence among those involved in child protection that the guidelines were being implemented effectively. For example, just 9 per cent of respondents felt the structures and bodies necessary for the successful operation of the "Children First" guidelines were in place.

Many also felt the initial impetus for implementing the guidelines had lost momentum and that progress had become variable across the State.

Despite these shortcomings, the review group said it did not feel the guidelines needed to be fundamentally revised or replaced. Instead, it said that issues of consistency in implementation and the development of standards should be given priority.

On the issue of whether the guidelines should be placed on a statutory basis, the report said there was no evidence to suggest that this would provide greater protection for children.

The report also said that mandatory reporting could divert scarce child protection resources, causing an extensive administrative burden, and implementation of sanctions.

Speaking at the report launch, Minister for Children Barry Andrews said his office would follow up on the report's recommendations to improve the implementation of existing guidelines.

"It is important to realise that 'Children First', while not on a statutory basis, still brings with it very clear responsibilities for those who become aware of child protection issues, and these responsibilities are those we would reasonably expect everyone in society to live up to in relation to caring for children," Mr Andrews said.

HSE childcare and family specialist Aidan Waterstone said health authorities were "actively engaged in a process of standardisation across the country".

"The establishment of the HSE as a single national health service provided us with the opportunity to achieve this," he said.

However, Fine Gael spokesman on children Alan Shatter said the review laid bare the "unacceptable failure" of the HSE, the Garda and other State agencies to fully apply the guidelines in practice and the absence of any consistent implementation of them, even within individual HSE regions.

"Today's publications have confirmed that our child protection services are chaotic, unco-ordinated and grossly inadequate," Mr Shatter said.

Child protection groups such as Barnardos and the ISPCC also urged the Government to act swiftly to address the significant gaps in the implementation of the guidelines, in particular to ensure that consistent, quality 24-hour support services are available.