In the controversy about the appalling cruelty inflicted on children at the Goldenbridge orphanage in Dublin in the 1950s and for part of the 1960s, the State has been strangely invisible. Technically it was the State which placed these children and many others in care where they were treated at best harshly and at worst savagely. Yet having placed them in institutions the State took little further interest in them.
The practice of inspecting residential homes died out with the founding of the State and most of the homes were, of course, run by religious orders many of whom might not have welcomed State "interference". We now know that terrible things happened while the State turned a blind eye and one wonders how long it will be before some of the victims of this neglect seek redress from the State through the courts.
The hands off approach of the State is still continuing. No independent inquiry was established into the very recent abuse of children at Madonna House in Dublin. This institution was run by an order of nuns but it was maintained and financed by the State, specifically by the Eastern Health Board. It seems unlikely at this stage that the report of the inquiry set up by the order will be published and this failure to provide full public accountability, in itself, is deeply disturbing.
For these and other reasons the announcement by "the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, that he is to establish an inspectorate to conduct inquiries into the handling of child care and to publish annual reports, is very welcome. Such an arrangement will be a great improvement on the present ad hoc situation where inquiries may or may not be set up by health boards, religious orders or government departments with no uniformity and no publication of results, except in the Kilkenny incest case.
The inspectorate will have the effect of establishing and maintaining standards. It will do this by publishing recommendations so that lessons can be drawn and mistakes remedied. It is also expected to establish a fair and just means of investigating allegations against care staff who currently do not know where they stand when complaints are made.
But the promised establishment does not represent a panacea. We still need to know what happened in Madonna House. We still need to know what happened in the Kelly Fitzgerald case a reminder that it is not only in residential care that things can go dreadfully wrong and we still need to know what happened in the case of the west of Ireland farmer who brutalised his children over many years.
By establishing the inspectorate, Mr Noonan will have made a significant contribution towards improving child care in Ireland. There is one further great step to be taken, and that is the creation of a national child care authority to bring an end to the confusion of roles between the Departments of Health, Education and Justice. As Sister Stanislaus Kennedy said this week, successive governments have created departments for issues that are considered important. Nothing could be more important than the care of our children.