Nationwide rumblings of discontent around major faults in Ireland’s Health Service Executive have resulted in a meeting held by Galway People Before Profit last Thursday evening at Áras na nGael in Galway City.

The meeting follows a spate of high-profile HSE failings – including most recently childrens’ audiology service failures and the Cervical Check scandal that has led to 18 deaths and prompted a Galway solidarity march last month, as well as ever-rising numbers of patients waiting on trolleys both nationwide and here at home.

The Galway branch of political party People Before Profit brought together various groups focused on addressing various health service issues. They heard from speaker Dr. Michael Creed on the role of the HSE in health care from an insider’s perspective.

The ultimate goal is to work together and pressure the government into effecting change in how the HSE – the most expensive public service organisation in Ireland with a budget of over €13 billion – operates, either by massive reforms or by scrapping the organisation entirely.

People Before Profit Election Candidate Joe Loughnane commented:

“[The meeting] was good…it was a very lively discussion. I think the main thing that came out of it was the appetite to do something – people want to start a campaign.

“There’s a clear consensus that the privatisation of the HSE is killing people, essentially. It’s completely pricing a lot of people out of going to hospital.”

The next step for the initiative is to gather more support from various interest groups and campaigns such as Standing 4 Women – a group currently focusing on supporting the CervicalCheck victims, the Connemara Ambulance Crisis group, and childrens support groups as well as health care workers’ unions.

“Nurses are completely overworked,” Loughnane said, adding that the lack of resources – including beds in hospitals – was due in part to privatisation of health care in Ireland.

The first problem they would like to tackle is the issue around disclosure of information – a systemic problem that led to the deaths of 18 women in the CervicalCheck programme. Loughnane said that disclosure of information to patients should be mandatory for health care professionals.

But for now, they are simply gathering support.

“It was a really productive meeting,” Loughnane said. “What’s left is to try to reach out to different groups, that’s the main focus now.”

Pictured above:  Dr Carol Coulter, Adjunct Professor in the School of Law at NUI Galway.

The findings of a two-year NUI Galway research study on lengthy and complex sexual abuse cases involving children has been published.

Limited specialist services for victims of child abuse, lack of cooperation between the Garda Siochána and Tusla social workers, and problems in the organisation and practice of the courts all contribute to certain child protection cases lasting up to three years, according to the new report.

The Childcare Law Reporting Project undertook research on exceptionally lengthy and complex cases which were already reported on its website to examine why some cases become highly contested, protracted and complex.

As well as examining the cases in detail, the CCLRP interviewed 40 key participants in these and other complex cases.

Main Findings from the Final Report:

• Some cases take up to three years to come to conclusion
• Child sexual abuse a major complicating factor in child protection cases
• Lack of cooperation between Gardaí and social workers
• Inadequate resources to support courts dealing with complex cases
• Small minority of child protection cases consume a disproportionate amount of court and Tusla time and resources.

The report, An Examination of Lengthy, Contested and Complex Child Protection Cases in the District Court, and launched this week by Chief Justice Mr Frank Clarke, was carried out by the Childcare Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) directed by Dr Carol Coulter, Adjunct Professor in the School of Law at NUI Galway.

The prolonged and complex cases examined share certain features, including allegations of very serious harm to a child or children, involving the likelihood of a criminal investigation; lack of coordination between State agencies concerning the allegations made; the involvement of a substantial number of expert witnesses; the requirement for professional assessments of the children and sometimes also of the parents; difficulties and delays in obtaining such assessments; disputes between experts as to the findings of the assessments and disputes between the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) and other parties on the admissibility of evidence.

Of the ten cases examined, the longest ran for 52 days in court over a period of nearly three years. Adjournments were common, for example, there were 22 adjournments in one case.

Multiple witnesses were called to give evidence, including expert witnesses from outside the jurisdiction, in one case there were 24 witnesses and in another there were 13 expert witnesses heard.

The numbers of lawyers involved was high, with up to 10 lawyers in some cases. Seven of the ten prolonged cases examined, and all except one of those that took over a year, were heard outside Dublin, with six of them heard by ‘moveable’ judges, who are called in by the local judge when he or she does not have time to hear a lengthy case. This can cause a range of logistical problems for hearing the case.

Eight cases involved allegations of child sexual abuse and the remaining two involved allegations of physical abuse, including one case alleging non-accidental injury to an infant.

Statistics collected by the Childcare Law Reporting Project, and separate research by the Legal Aid Board, suggests that child protection cases involving sex abuse allegations make up only 5-6 per cent of all child protection cases coming before the courts, which in turn form only a minority of all Tusla interventions on behalf of children at risk, so these cases are not at all typical of the bulk of work undertaken by Tusla.

Nonetheless, they demonstrate systemic problems with the child protection system as overseen by the courts.

This study highlights issues that require attention from various State agencies:

• The early identification of complicating issues in a case.
• Careful preparation of cases by the Child and Family Agency for court.
• The management of cases to ensure that all evidence and witnesses are assembled in advance and timetabled into the proceedings.
• The early identification and completion of necessary assessments.
• The need for coordination between different State agencies involved in the welfare and protection of children, including the Garda Síochána.

Dr Charles O’Mahony, Head of the School of Law at NUI Galway, said: “The Child Care Law Reporting Project is a critical tool that informs Government policy on this important area of law and practice. The School of Law at NUI Galway is delighted to support this project, which bridges important gaps in our understanding of child care proceedings.”

The Child Care Law Reporting Project was set up in November 2012 by Dr Carol Coulter, with the support of Atlantic Philanthropies, the One Foundation and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and with administrative and technical support from Free Legal Advice Centres with a five-year programme of work, which ended in February 2018.

As well as Dr Coulter, the project has the assistance of five part-time reporters in attending court cases around the country, including Maria Corbett, who was awarded a Hardiman scholarship by NUI Galway to undertake research on child care proceedings.

Along with her duties as supervisor, Dr Coulter delivers occasional lectures to NUI Galway students of law and social science. Dr Coulter said: “I am delighted to have the support of NUI Galway’s School of Law in continuing the work of the Child Care Law Reporting Project.

“It reflects the School’s commitment to excellence in public law, and I look forward to closer collaboration with the School in the future.”

Dr Connie Healy from the School of Law at NUI Galway, said: “We at the School of Law would like to congratulate Dr Coulter on her success with the Child Care Law Reporting Project to-date and look forward to working closely with her in her role as Adjunct Professor during the next phase of the project.

“Her insight into the Child Care System in Ireland has contributed greatly to both our undergraduate and PhD candidates’ knowledge on this important area of law.”

The report by Carol Coulter, Director of the Child Care Law Reporting Project, was commissioned by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and is available at:www.childlawproject.ie

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s upcoming ‘European of the Year’ award is a ‘deserved acknowledgement of his role in guiding Ireland back to economic recovery’, a Galway East TD has said.

Ciaran Cannon TD said: “I congratulate Enda Kenny on being selected for this honour and consider it deserved acknowledgment of his role in guiding Ireland back to economic recovery in the face of hugely challenging circumstances.”

The Minister for the Diaspora and International Development said that the Mayo man and former Taoiseach has a distinguished record of service to his country after serving his constituency for 43 years and leading of Fine Gael for 15 years.

“That dedication played no small role in rebuilding Fine Gael after a poor election showing in 2002 and guiding this country back to recovery after the economic downturn, a recovery that many thought impossible when Enda Kenny became Taoiseach in 2011.

“There were difficult decisions to be made and he had the courage to make them and to face the heat of the day.

“He has never stood back from a challenge, be it economic or political.

“Not only has he had a vision of Ireland’s role in Europe, but he has also recognised the significant economic, cultural and social role the Irish have played across the globe and his creation of the Office of Minister of State for the Diaspora was a measure of his commitment as Taoiseach to giving the Irish abroad a channel to express their concerns and thus a voice at home.

“Above all, he has always had an unstinting confidence in the ability of the Irish people to work towards a better tomorrow.

“I congratulate Enda Kenny and his family on this honour,” said Minister Cannon.

The Gardaí are looking for new recruits, but there’s not long left to apply.

The original deadline in An Garda Síochána’s latest recruitment campaign was earlier today, but that deadline has been extended.

The 3pm deadline today has been changed to midday tomorrow (Friday 8 June) because of ‘technical difficulties’.

A Garda statement said: “An Garda Síochána serves all of the community and would encourage everyone, and in particular, women, and those from diverse groups, to consider a career in policing. We recognise the importance of recruiting people from a wide cross section of the community so that we are representative of the increasingly diverse society we serve.”

So if you were thinking of joining the guards, go to www.publicjobs.ie for information about the campaign and to apply online.

Green Party candidate for Galway West Pauline O’Reilly has said that Minister Katherine Zappone has all but ignored stay-at-home parents and most childminders in her latest plans for a new expert group to tackle childcare, which was revealed today.
 
Pauline O’Reilly said: “Increased spending on childcare is to be welcomed. However, once again the Department has all but excluded the largest groups of child carers; stay-at-home parents and most childminders.
 
“We need to show that Ireland is a country that values care and community if we are genuinely aiming to give women and men a choice to become parents. This group should be looking to countries like Finland, which gives support for both crèches and those choosing another option to care for their children.”
 
She continued: “In relation to support for crèches, O’Reilly said: “Childcare workers are amongst the lowest paid in our society. The Affordable Childcare Scheme, which was rolled out last year, saw these childcare workers dealing with an online system that was not fully up and running by the start of the childcare year.

“Here we are seeing an expert group set up to support some families’ childcare costs and not others. When is the Department going to get this right?
 
“She said that ‘CSO figures reveal that most parents, 83%, are happy with the childcare model that they have chosen’. The difficulty for them is not who looks after children, so much as the affordability of their choice. All families must be supported equally and be seen to respect parents as experts.”