Vol. 559 No. 6
164 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has information or statistics on the number of foster children who were abused while in the care of the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26881/02]
Statistics are not available for the number of children in foster care who were abused while in the care of the State.
In 2000, the year for which the latest figures are available, there were 8,269 cases of suspected child abuse referred to the health boards. The number of children involved in these cases was 7,739. This abuse includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse as well as neglect. As many as 3,085 cases were confirmed as abuse and 778 were confirmed as non-abuse or the suspicions were unfounded. There were 1,904 inconclusive assessments and 2,502 assessments were ongoing at the end of 2000. Figures for 2001 will be available early next year.
