This article is from page 4 of the 2014-07-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A SENIOR director with the Ombudsman for Children has said that to the best of its knowledge it has not yet been asked to investigate childcare services in Clare.
On June 10, a District Court Judge ordered that the Guardian Ad Litem of a number of children taken into State care request the Ombudsman to examine a case where the children were unallocated a social care worker for more than three months.
At a sitting of the Family Law (District Court) in Clare last month, Judge Alan Mitchell directed that the Guardian Ad Litem also refer the matter to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
The children, who lived in Clare and were found to have been neglected by their mother, have since been allocated a social care worker.
Judge Mitchell granted a full child care order on application from the CFA in respect of a number of children. In the case, Judge Mitchell said the un-allocation of social care workers in Clare was “a source of serious concern” to him.
A senior social care worker described the staffing difficulties that led to the un-allocation as “scandalous”.
Yesterday, Niall Muldoon, Director of Investigations with the Ombudsman for Children, told The Clare People that to the “best of my knowledge, we have not received anything yet”.
Mr Muldoon said that in the event his office is asked to investigate, the case would first be examined to see if it falls under the remit of the Ombudsman.
“After that we look at it on a case by case basis,” he added.
A spokesman for HIQA would not confirm or deny the case had been referred to the authority.
“It is a policy of HIQA not to comment on specific cases,” he added.
Figures supplied to The Clare People last month by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, showed that as of June 13 there were 10 childcare cases unallocated in Clare.
The Children in Care team in Clare (CIC) is currently providing services to approximately 160 children in care.
A spokeswoman said the “staffing arrangement has by and large remained stable over the last four to five years, and in fact there has been a significant improvement”.
She continued, “Clare social work department was allocated five additional social worker posts in 2010 in the wake of the Ryan report and also a social worker post in 2012. Changes to core staffing group have been due to maternity leaves and special carers’ leaves.”