Accepting, without ambition to change, the numbers now living in emergency accommodation is fatal to tackling the problem, writes Cliodhna O’Neill of the ISPCC.
We are failing to learn lessons from the past on child protection. It is a shameful mark of disrespect to the many children who have suffered abuse and neglect in Ireland.
Last week Childline said its service deals not just with abuse children, but with children who are worried about the recession and how it’s impacted on their families.
Childline should be expanding. Instead we’re faced with the awful possibility that a child calling in desperation might have no one to answer their call.
Ahead of the charity’s AGM in Dublin today, the ISPCC said it is now at breaking point and could be forced to close Childline at night – when children need them most.
Children’s charities have been critical of the lack of access to services for children who have been sexually abused, as the HSE does not have the specialist staff to treat them.
The charity has published advice for parents in light of the alleged attack in Athlone. It urges parents to teach basic rules to children from the age of two.
THE MINISTER FOR Justice will today outline plans for a sweeping overhaul of how gardaí operate, including a new power for gardaí to request passwords or encryption keys for electronic devices.
The new legislation aims to make changes based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.
Under the new law people would be required to provide passwords for access to electronic devices when gardaí are carrying out a search under warrant.
While some people have welcomed the move, others have said it encroaches on people’s civil liberties.
What do you think: Should it be an offence to refuse to give gardaí a password to an electronic device?
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