Sir, – The range of views expressed on the Letters Page since the excellent Irish Times coverage of the report into the death of children in care adds greatly to what should be part of a broad-ranging approach to a solution.
It is all too easy to blame front-line workers from all disciplines who have struggled over the years without adequate support and facilities. These workers, some with university degrees and others with university of life experience, need to be supported and not made to feel they are the only ones responsible for the situation we now find ourselves in.
We in Trust have been working with people who are homeless since 1975, and many of those people, including many we still meet, have come through the care system. We are not surprised or shocked by the findings of this report and neither by the rush of those far removed from the problem and its complexities to apportion blame. I just wonder if correspondence to the authorities from those who attempted to highlight the inadequacies has also been lost.
There are so many caring people from all disciplines who still suffer from the frustration of not being heard. This is now compounded by the utterances of some of our politicians who appear to have no idea of how difficult life is for so many of our citizens, young and old, in the Ireland of today – and those attempting to meet their needs. – Yours, etc,