Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said there was a “failure” by the State in the case of a girl under its care who was allegedly sexually assaulted in Dublin.
A 26-year-old man appeared in court on Tuesday in connection with the reported incident, which took place in Saggart, reports The Mirror.
The child and family agency Tusla confirmed the girl was taken into its care voluntarily by her family in February.
According to Tusla, the child went missing after she left a supervised recreational outing with staff in Dublin city centre, but continued to communicate with them by phone without revealing her location, reports The Mirror.
Children’s Minister Norma Foley confirmed that a review of the care provided to the girl is now under way.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, the Taoiseach described the case as “extremely serious and very, very grave.”
“Could I say it is the fundamental duty of the state to protect the children of the state, and irrespective of the complexity, acuity or severity of any particular case, that duty has to be fulfilled, and on this occasion, that duty was not fulfilled,” he said, reports The Mirror.
He added that the Children’s Minister has requested an interim report to be delivered within six weeks, reports The Mirror.
Due to ongoing legal proceedings, the Taoiseach said he had to speak cautiously.
“A person has been arrested in respect of the alleged sexual assault of this 10-year-old girl, so I don’t want to say anything that in any way compromises the conduct or the progressing of that case. Clearly, there has been failure here in terms of the state’s obligation to protect this child.” He added: “I would acknowledge the concern, anger and worry of many people throughout the country at what (is) alleged to have transpired here. And the concerns are legitimate, and the concerns of people generally across the country and within the specific location are genuine, and I want to acknowledge that. We will put the full rigours of the state behind this case in all facets, in all respects,” reports The Mirror.
Speaking later on Tuesday, Minister Foley said she had instructed the National Review Panel to launch an immediate investigation into the matter.
“I do want to say that this is a very, very worrying case. I think it’s our human instinct really, to want to mind and to guard and protect a child,” she said at Government Buildings, “I’m really, really conscious that at the heart of this is a child, and I want to say that child is very much in my thoughts,” reports The Mirror.
When asked whether she maintained confidence in Tusla, the minister responded: “I have no reason not, at this point. I do think in fairness to them, we need to look at the wider numbers that they deal with. This year they would have, it’s estimated, more than 105,000 referrals. That’s a significant body of work that they go through.”
Responding to questions about the outing from which the girl absconded, she said: “Obviously we would wish that that would never happen for any child, but it can happen, and what I need to know now is how it happened, what the circumstances were, and that’s the work of the National Review Panel,” reports The Mirror.
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