A HIQA report into foster care services in the Carlow, Kilkenny and South Tipperary region has raised serious concerns.
It says foster children in this area continued to be placed with carers who had allegations of abuse made against them for up to 18 months before an investigation was launched.
According to the report, a review of 10 case files found there were delays in completing assessments or taking action in seven of those.
The inspectors noted that “timely action” wasn’t always taken to “protect children in the care of foster parents where child protection concerns or allegations had been made against foster carers.”
In one case, six months had passed between when concerns were first reported and when an investigation was actually launched.
Another fase found an investigation was delayed for 18 months, during which time children continued to be placed in the home.
Across Carlow and Kilkenny, upwards of 70% of carers were not subjected to reviews for more than three years.
The HIQA report doesn’t specify what the allegations in any of the cases were and it eventually concluded that the children involved weren’t being exposed to any risk.
Four out of the eight standards that were assessed by the watchdog were found to be majorly non-compliant.
