Statement by Alan Shatter TD, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Children Leaked Report Confirms Chronic and Systemic Failures in Child Protection Management and Service Delivery
Photo: Irish Times 30th April
Recent HSE Child Protection Reports Ignore Existence of PA Report
A suppressed HSE report from October 2009 on child protection services in the State that has been leaked to Fine Gael, and published on the Party’s www.letinthelight.ie website, confirms a chronic and systemic failure in the management and delivery of child protection services. The detailed PA Consulting Report (“Inspiring Confidence in Children and Family Services: Putting Children First and Meaning It”) has not been published, referred to or commented on by Minister Barry Andrews or, for instance, Geoffrey Shannon who just over a week ago produced the “Third Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection”.
A detailed summary of the PA Report is attached to this statement, is available at www.letinthelight..ie or is available from the Fine Gael press office. Copies of the Report were also laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas at lunchtime today.
“PA Consulting were commissioned by the HSE to undertake a Review of the delivery and management of child protection services. The Review assessed current structures, management and governance and was furnished to the HSE in October 2009. This Report contains another searing indictment of the HSE’s child protection services. It contains a series of detailed recommendations of substantial importance that don’t appear to have been recognised or acknowledged by subsequent published reports by the HSE. Damningly, it shows how systems and bureaucracy takes priority over child protection demands under current HSE structures.
“This Report has never been published nor publicly debated. Many of those who work within our children’s services have never seen it. The extent to which the HSE intends to implement the recommendations contained in it is unknown. There is no mechanism in place to publicly monitor any implementation process. The current service as depicted in the HSE responses to recommendations, as published last Friday in its heavily censored reports into the deaths of Tracey Fay and David Foley, makes no reference to the existence of this Report and is both inconsistent with its content and contains a misleading description of the current state of our childcare and protection services. The failure of the HSE to publish this important Report is another example of the obsessive secrecy surrounding the management of our child care services.
There are a number of questions that must be answered on foot of the leaking of this Report;
- Was Minister Andrews aware of the existence of this PA Report and has he read it?
- Did Geoffrey Shannon know about this Report, and has he read it?
- Who in the HSE received the Report when it was completed?
- What actions did the HSE or Minister Andrews take on foot of the production of this Report with its specific recommendations?
- How much money was spent on producing this Report that appears to have been ignored by all concerned?
“I am calling on the Minister for Children to state if and when he received a copy of this Report and the consideration, if any, he gave to its publication. Just over a week ago on 21st April 2010 the “Third Report of the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection” (Geoffrey Shannon) was laid before the Dáil and published. This Report, prepared in good faith by Mr Shannon at the taxpayers expense, addressing current child protection issues not only contains no reference to the Report of the Strategic Review undertaken by PA Consulting but contains a recommendation (at p.68) that:-
“An independent national review of the current child protection system should be carried out. The review should involve examination of child protection data, international practice and consultation with stakeholders to identify the primary child protection services and areas in need of reform”.
“Clearly Geoffrey Shannon was never furnished with nor is aware of the PA Consulting Report which essentially completed in October 2009 the review he recommended be undertaken in April 2010. This yet again clearly illustrates that in addressing vital issues of child protection at government and state agency level the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing and there is a scandalous lack of accountability, proper communication and transparency.
“The PA Consulting Report of October 2009 has been paid for by the taxpayers of this State and contains recommendations to ensure that we truly develop a child centred service that doesn’t merely pay lip service to putting children first. As part of Fine Gaels “Let in the Light” campaign to bring accountability, proper communication and greater transparency into the service we are today publishing the Report.
To view the PA Consulting Report “Inspiring Confidence in Children and Family Services: Putting Children First and Meaning It.” Click here
To view a summary by Fine Gael of the PA Consulting Report Click here
