Mr Tynan said the seven-year-old collapsed in the classroom. Social services were alerted and the child was examined by a doctor. Mr Tynan said the social worker assigned to the case was reluctant to describe the child as malnourished, but confirmed the child was “severely undernourished”.
He said the child’s mother, who was surviving on social welfare payments, had an empty fridge last Wednesday and could not afford to restock it until this Thursday. St Vincent de Paul Cork branch chief Brendan Dempsey said the undernourishment case was “bound to happen”.
“700,000 people are on the breadline living in poverty, 200,000 are children, and I know of mothers and fathers going hungry to feed their children.“Two or three years ago we were being asked for shoes or help with the rent. Now we are simply being asked for food.”
‘Undernourished’ Child Collapses (Eoin English and Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, Irish Examiner)
