RTE reports:

A HIQA inspection of Child Protection and Welfare Services in the midlands has found that one duty team which regularly dealt with unassessed risk was predominantly made up of inexperienced social workers.

One in five of the cases reviewed by inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority had to be escalated for the attention of the area manager of the Child and Family Agency, Tusla.

Last January’s nine-day announced inspection of the Child and Family Agency’s Midlands Services followed notifications to the watchdog in April 2015 by the Agency.

These included that around 700 unallocated child protection case files pertaining to Laois and Offaly had been discovered in a Portlaoise office and that 822 unacknowledged Garda notifications of alleged abuse had also been found.

The midlands services also cover counties Westmeath and Longford.

Inexperienced staff dealt with child risk cases – HIQA (RTE)