Irish Minister Fitzgerald
sympathises with the families of children who died under the care of the HSE
The Minister for Children has expressed her deepest sympathies on behalf of the Government and the State to the families of young people who died under the care of the Health Service Executive.
Ms Fitzgerald said the report showed a whole catalogue of failures, including a lack of proper co-ordination between State agencies, poor record keeping and a lack of proper risk assessment.
She said it was hard to believe child protection services were in such a state during the Celtic Tiger era.
She said the Government was attempting to ensure that the most vulnerable children received the very best services and that “change had begun”.
She said 262 social workers had been hired since the publication of the Ryan Report but that, due to the difficult nature of their work, retention of staff was difficult.
Many in care not given enough protection – report
The report concluded that the majority of children did not receive an adequate child protection service.
The ‘Report of the Independent Child Death Review Group’ recommends that a root-and-branch reform of the child protection system in Ireland is required.
It concludes that while many of the cases reviewed were deaths from natural causes, others were unnatural and may have been preventable.
The report covers the period 2000-2010 and 196 separate cases in which a child or young person died.
The report divides the cases into three distinct categories; those who died in care, those who died while in aftercare services and those who died who were known to the HSE.
Of these, 112 died as a result of non-natural causes, while 84 deaths were due to natural causes.
The report, by Dr Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbons, found that many of the children had experiences and difficulties before coming into contact with the HSE, which are not encountered to the same extent in the general child population.
It says cognisance must be taken of this fact when evaluating the case summaries.
Child Death Review Unit recommended
The report recommends that a Child Death Review Unit be established and should be independent from the HSE.
It says this unit should automatically have the power to investigate the death of any child or young person in care or known to the HSE
The report also recommends that the operation of the in camera rule must be addressed so as to allow for transparency and accountability in the child care cases.
The group examined the files of 36 children who were in the direct care of the HSE at the time of their deaths. Seventeen of these deaths were due to non natural causes. Over 80% of the children were aged 14 or over.
It says ultimately and tragically the efforts to protect these children failed and a key issue to be emphasised is the vulnerability of the children.
The report says while good practice was adhered to in some cases, the fact remains that its application was sporadic and inconsistent.
It says earlier and more consistent good practice would have increased the chances that these children might have overcome their vulnerabilities, although it is not possible to conclude that their deaths would have been ultimately prevented.
In 12 of the 36 files, there was evidence of delay in taking the child into care. In many of the cases there was no care plan drawn up for the child. In 15 out of the 36 cases, there was evidence of a poor standard of record keeping and incomplete records.
The group also examined the files of 32 young people who were in aftercare at the time of their death; 27 of whom died from non-natural causes. Fourteen were killed in drug-related deaths and seven were suicides.
Concerns over the level of aftercare
In some cases no aftercare at all was provided to young persons who left the case of the HSE, which the report says is a very serious concern.
The report states that there is a fear that when young people leave the care of the HSE and go into aftercare that they are almost forgotten about.
The report also looks into the cases of 128 children and young people who were known to the HSE before their deaths – 60 of these died of natural causes, 68 died of non-natural causes.
It says that often the support offered by social workers to families is resisted by parents despite what might be in the best interests of the child.
It praised the work of some, saying that the persistence of individual social workers is to be commended.
The report says the lack of resources within the HSE to provide appropriate support and services to these children is evident. A particular concern is the lack of out-of-hours social work services.
It says these files demonstrate an evident problem with communications within the HSE and between the HSE and others.
The report also concludes that in many of the cases reviewed, the authors have noted the absence of the voice of the child.
There are notable exceptions but in many instances the professionals involved in the lives of many of these children have not recorded the wishes and feelings of the children.
Report findings ‘deeply disturbing’ – says Frances Fitzgerald
Earlier today, Minister Fitzgerald said the report shows what happens when children are failed.
She says what the report has found is a disgrace and it shows how crucial missed interventions can lead to childhoods destroyed and in some instances lives lost.
The Minister said the report shines a light on a dark, often uneasiness and tragic corner of Irish life and she believes that in any previous administration a report such as this might have been withheld or redacted.
She said the findings are deeply disturbing.
Gordon Jeyes, National Director of Children and Family services at the HSE, has welcomed the report.
He said it was a disgrace that the authorities did not know the number of children who had died either while in State care, or were known to child protection services in the past.
He said that that is no longer the case.
He remarked that children should be seen and heard and should not end up as a footnote.
He said the public scrutiny of this report will be detailed and he said this should be the case.
Mr Jeyes said disciplinary action has been taken in some cases but he would not say if anyone had lost their job.
He said he not “see the public benefit in answering that.”
IRELAND’S GDP per head of population fourth highest in Europe
Ireland ranked 4th in terms of GDP per capita among the 27 EU member states
IRELAND’S GROSS DOMESTIC output per capita in 2011 was 27 per cent above the European Union average, according to statistics released today.
The figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, show Ireland was behind just Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria in purchasing power standards.
Luxembourg has the highest level, at more than 2.5 times the EU average across 27 countries.
Finland, Belgium and Germany were between 15 per cent and 20 per cent above the average, while France and the UK were between 5 per cent and 10 per cent above.
Romania and Bulgaria, the newest members of the EU, were at between 50 per cent and 55 per cent lower than average.
Energy ministers Pat Rabbitte and Charles Hendry, MP agree to develop a
M.O.U. (MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING) ON RENEWABLE ENERGY TRADING
Yesterday Wednesday in London, Ireland’s Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD, and the UK’s Energy Minister Charles Hendry, MP, met to discuss the development of renewable energy trading between the two countries, as well as plans to enhance gas market planning procedures.
As a result of this morning’s meeting, the two ministers have agreed upon a process to develop a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) on renewable energy trading between the two countries.
The two ministers will be aiming to finalise the MoU by the end of the year.
Ireland’s Department of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources confirmed that officials from both sides will now be examining the market, regulatory and technical issues necessary to underpin the development of cross-jurisdictional renewable trade.
The East West Interconnector, connecting Ireland and the UK, is set to be completed later this year. It will aim to facilitate new markets for energy companies in both Ireland and the UK to trade electricity.
Today, Rabbitte and Hendry also agreed to further develop the common gas emergency planning framework between the two countries.
European Commission holds the key to any deal for Aer Lingus
For the third time in six years, Michael O’Leary has taken everyone by surprise by making an offer for Aer Lingus.
It comes less than a week after it was confirmed that the UK’s Competition Commission would investigate Ryanair’s 29.8 per cent shareholding in Aer Lingus.
This could force Ryanair to sell its stake, which dates back to late 2006 when O’Leary began hoovering up shares in the airline following its initial public offering.
Is O’Leary getting his retaliation in first in relation to this investigation?
Or is he trying to flush out interest in Aer Lingus given that the Government decided earlier this year to sell its 25 per cent stake?
Ryanair is significantly under water on its €400 million-plus investment in Aer Lingus shares.
It nothing else, O’Leary has put a floor of €1.30 on the stock, which has traded below €1 a share for most of the time since Ryanair’s last bid in 2008.
Etihad’s recent decision to buy just under 3 per cent of Aer Lingus offers the potential of a deal with a third party.
Bloomberg quoted Denis O’Brien, who owns more than 3 per cent of Aer Lingus, as stating that Ryanair’s move might be a “ploy” to initiate talks with Etihad.
However, European Commission rules prohibit Abu Dhabi-based Etihad from owning a controlling stake in an EU airline.
And the UAE carrier has so far signalled its interest only in the Government’s 25 per cent stake.
Etihad is taking a watching brief on Ryanair’s latest offer and won’t be bounced into any counter-move.
While O’Leary has decided to keep mum for now on the reasons for his latest bid, it seems he is quite serious in his renewed interest to acquire Aer Lingus. This is not a bluff.
How will he obtain commission approval, having been knocked back in 2007, a decision that was upheld on appeal in 2010?
This is not clear. If anything, Ryanair’s and Aer Lingus’s dominance in Ireland is greater now than in 2007. Figures from the Dublin Airport Authority show that in 2007, the pair had a combined 73 per cent of traffic in Dublin. In 2011, that figure was 80 per cent.
Last year, the pair had a combined 84 per cent of traffic at Cork and 64 per cent in Shannon, where US transatlantic operators account for a chunky part of the airport’s business.
Figures compiled by industry group Anna Aero show that Aer Lingus and Ryanair compete directly (the same airport) on 22 routes from Dublin and indirectly (different airports but serving the same destination) on 14.
There are 30 routes where they don’t compete.
Put differently, Ryanair competes either directly or indirectly on 73 per cent of the seats offered by Aer Lingus to Europe.
In 2007, the commission decided that a Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus would create a “monopoly or a dominant position” on 35 routes affecting 14 million passengers and that the remedies offered by Ryanair – including surrendering certain routes to competitors – were not sufficient.
O’Leary will have to be a lot more creative with his remedies this time around if he is to change the commission’s view.
As my colleague in Brussels Arthur Beesley has discovered, the commission has only once before reversed a decision on a corporate takeover such as this.
This process could run for up to nine months and move straight into a phase two investigation.
Any change of heart by the commission will boil down to the remedies that O’Leary can offer. It will also hinge on whether other airlines will be willing to take up the challenge of operating the routes in Ryanair’s backyard that the airline gives up to secure approval for the takeover.
There is also the small matter of persuading the Aer Lingus board and its shareholders to approve a deal.
N17 accident in County Galway results in death of woman driver
An elderly woman was killed in a road traffic pile-up on the N17 in County Galway this (Wednesday) evening.
Gardaí are investigating the crash which occurred at 4.45pm and involved four cars.
The incident occurred at what’s known locally as Cloonmore near the Headford Road junction three miles from Tuam on the Galway side.
The woman who was fatally injured is believed to be in her 60s or 70s, according to Gardaí. She has not yet been named.
At least three ambulances and two Fire Brigades attended the scene. Gardaí said a number of others suffered minor injuries in the collision.
The road at the scene was closed for several hours to facilitate a forensic collision examination of the area.
The collision caused long tailbacks along the N17. Traffic was diverted out the Athenry Road out of Tuam via Corofin.
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