Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 May 2001

Vol. 535 No. 2

Written Answers - Child Abuse Reports.

John McGuinness

Ceist:

175 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of reports submitted to his Department from the South Eastern Health Board dealing with child sex abuse in the region; the current status of these reports; if they are being examined by any expert body or panel; if the reports will be made public; if it is considered that the contents of the reports can be of help to any individual or group taking legal action at present; if so if these individuals or groups will be advised of the content of the reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12573/01]

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin):

Under the Child Care Act, 1991, health boards have statutory responsibility for the care and protection of children including following up on reports of child sexual abuse. Health boards do not routinely submit reports dealing with individual cases of child abuse to my Department. However, all health boards provide statistical information for incorporation in the Department's interim minimum dataset and the most recent information from the South Eastern Health Board, which relates to 1999, indicates that there were 2,204 cases of child abuse reported to the health board, with the breakdown as to types of abuse as follows:

Number of Child Abuse Cases Reported to the South-Eastern Health Board in 1999:

Primary Type ofAbuse	Reported	No. of Children	ConfirmedAbuse	ConfirmedNon-AbuseUnfounded	InconclusiveOutcome	AssessmentOngoing
Physical Abuse	546	430	277	39	75	155
Sexual Abuse	617	495	183	19	173	242
Emotional Abuse	246	199	131	17	50	48
Neglect	795	617	399	63	137	196
Total	2204	1741	990	138	435	641

I would suggest that the Deputy contact the chief executive officer of the South Eastern Health Board directly in regard to his queries concerning reports of child sexual abuse.