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	Sex Abuse Scandals Spark Rise in Calls to Watchdog By Stephen O'Farrell Irish Independent July 9, 2009 http://www.independent.ie/national-news/sex-abuse-scandals-spark-rise---in-calls-to--watchdog-1813461.html THE Ryan report and other child abuse scandals triggered a surge in complaints to the children's rights watchdog. Children's Ombudsman Emily Logan revealed that her office received 810 complaints last year and said they were on course to eclipse that figure by almost a quarter in 2009. At the publication of her 2008 annual report, Ms Logan highlighted a number of "legal gaps", which are leaving children in state services in a vulnerable position. She said the threshold for prosecution of allegations of child abuse was still too high, while the lack of "aftercare support" for young people finishing up in state care continued to raise concerns. Ms Logan also called for the introduction of an independent inspection into children in state care. In the first five months of 2009, 23 children who had arrived in Ireland without a parent or guardian disappeared from HSE accommodation, 20 of whom remain unaccounted for. Fine Gael's immigration spokesman Denis Naughten last night backed the Children's Ombudsman's call. "It is clear that many of these young children are being coerced or enticed from state care into lives of depravity and prostitution," he said. Ms Logan said an inquiry into the death of every child in state care was essential in order to close the gaps in our protection services. She said that 20 children had died in state care over the last six years. She also called on the Government to give the Teaching Council the power to examine allegations of professional misconduct within the education system. The 810 complaints in 2008 represent a 10pc rise on 2007 and the annual total has jumped almost tenfold since the agency was founded in 2004. In the first six months of 2009, complaints are up a further 23pc on the same period last year. Ms Logan put the rise down to an increase in awareness over child abuse issues prompted by high-profile stories reported in the media. Protection "We have had Cloyne, the Roscommon [House of Horrors] case and we've had the Ryan report and certainly anything in relation to child protection is a particular trigger for the public," she said. According to the report, 41pc of the complaints related to problems in education where the major issues included child protection, handling of allegations of bullying and special needs allocation. Just over a third of the complaints related to the health system where concerns were raised over the size of HSE waiting lists, especially for speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.
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