Minister urged to act on foster services concerns

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The Childrens' Minister is being urged to ‘get real' after a HIQA report raised concerns over foster services in Galway and Roscommon. Fianna Fáil childrens' spokesperson and Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte says the findings of the inspection report are worrying. Of the eight standards inspected in the Galway/Roscommon area, one was compliant, three were substantially compliant and there were four moderate breaches. It found that a quarter of carers did not have a review for over three years, however, these are scheduled to be completed by the end of this month. Improvements were needed to managing allegations against foster carers, updating of garda vetting and the frequency of visit to foster carers. Tusla has this afternoon responded to the concerns raised. It says allegations of abuse across the Galway/Roscommon service will be dealt with in a timely fashion and all complaints and are now tracked through bi-monthly meetings. Deputy Anne Rabbitte says Childrens' Minister Katherine Zappone needs to get real about the endemic issues facing child protection services across Ireland.