Sir, – It was disingenuous of Fintan O’Toole to whine that the State put more time and effort into tracing farm animals than it did into tracing lost children (Weekend Review, June 23rd). The food industry has to do with herds, ear-tags, bar codes and slaughter – stuff that can be counted, measured, charged for, and paid by farmers, factories and consumers.
Vulnerable children are priceless, immeasurable human spirits. The tragedy and discord of every single case is different.
There is a huge core of decent people working in child and family services, chipping away at the coalface of tragic stories and impossible problems – problems that must be managed and monitored to obtain the best possible outcome for the children concerned.
This scenario calls out for a bottom-up solution. Authority and resources need to be given to those compassionate imaginative people who are really in touch with the realities of the situations facing them. – Yours, etc,