O’Flynn: 14-month delay in child protection case an unacceptable betrayal of duty

Independent Ireland Chairperson and TD for Cork North Central, Ken O’Flynn, has described the revelation that a child reported as being at risk of sexual abuse was left unallocated on a waiting list for over fourteen months as “nothing short of a scandal”.

Deputy O’Flynn said the case represented not merely an administrative lapse but a profound failure of the State to uphold its most basic duty: the protection of vulnerable children.

“HIQA’s inspection has exposed what many of us have long feared – a system where children at risk are categorised, prioritised, and too often left waiting while their lives and safety hang in the balance. The fact that even a second referral, made a month later, failed to trigger immediate action is indefensible. No child should be reduced to a statistic or left suspended in bureaucratic delay when their welfare is at stake,” he said.

The Cork North Central TD said the consequences of such failures are real and lifelong. “Children who are subjected to or left exposed to sexual abuse suffer permanent harm – from trauma and mental illness to loss of education and fractured futures. Every delay in responding to reports of abuse compounds that damage.”

Deputy O’Flynn confirmed that he has tabled a series of Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Health, demanding answers on how this case was allowed to persist and what concrete steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence. He said he wanted to know why therapeutic supports were not provided, why risk reassessments were not automatic, and why the State’s promises to children can be so easily deferred.

He stressed the urgent need for reform at every level of the child protection system. This, he said, must include automatic reassessment triggers whenever a second referral is made, guarantees that children will receive interim therapeutic support rather than being left without care, and clear national performance targets for case allocation that are published, monitored, and enforced. Above all, he argued, there must be national accountability so that children are not left at risk simply because of geography, staffing numbers, or the speed of a paper process.

“This is not a partisan issue – it is a moral imperative,” O’Flynn said. “The public must have confidence that when abuse is reported, the State acts swiftly, decisively, and always in the best interests of the child. The Government must now provide clear answers – and more importantly, clear action. Nothing less will suffice.”