Cabra, Dublin: Three Men Arrested As Gardai Seize Cannabis Worth €400,000

Three men have been arrested after the drugs squad seized 32 kilos of cannabis in a raid on suspected dealers.

Gardaí say one of the men is a member of an organised criminal gang dealing in cocaine cannabis and heroin and has been a target of the National Drugs Unit and the Organised Crime Unit for some time.

He was arrested along with another man after the drugs were loaded into a van in Cabra last night.

A third man was arrested in the house where the drugs were stored.

They were arrested following a joint operation by the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Organised Crime Unit after a van was loaded and stopped on Faussagh Avenue Road in Cabra with 25kg of cannabis herb.

Another 7kg was found when the house the men came out from with the boxes was searched.

LINK TO PHOTO ALBUMS:

http://picasaweb.google.com/106601042721625135361

Two men, aged 25 and 40, were initially detained after 25 kilos of herbal cannabis was recovered on Fassaugh Avenue, Cabra, north Dublin.

In a follow-up search, a 31-year-old man was arrested after another seven kilos of the drug was found nearby on the Carnlough Road.

A Garda spokesman said the cannabis has a street value of about 400,000 euro.

The men were taken in for questioning to Cabra and Finglas Garda stations under section two of the Drug Trafficking Act.

The spokesman said the seizures, involving the National Drugs Unit and National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, were part of an ongoing intelligence-led operation into the sale and supply of drugs in the Dublin area. www.garda.ie

BREAKING NEWS: SWITZERLAND: INTERPOL ISSUES GLOBAL ALERT FOR SNATCHED TWINS

INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC ALERT ISSUED BY INTERPOL:

Police in three countries are hunting for six-year-old twin girls after their father, who had snatched them from their home in Switzerland, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train.

International Hunt For Snatched Twins Enlarge photo

Interpol have launched a global alert for the missing girls to all 188 member countries.

Helicopters, mounted police and tracker dogs have joined police in searching around Cerignola in the southern region of Puglia for Alessia and Livia Schepp.

Their 43-year-old father, Matthias Kaspar Schepp, committed suicide at Cerignola station in Italy on Friday. He is also believed to have been in France.

He had snatched the twins from their home in western Switzerland last Sunday and driven them away in a car belonging to his estranged wife Irina, 44.

Over 30 Swiss police officers are now searching for the girls.

A further two other policemen have gone to Marseille in southern France to follow up leads there.

The children’s mother, who is Italian, went to French police in Marseille, from where her husband had sent her a postcard on January 31, the day after he took the children.

He had said he was desperate and could not live without her.

Swiss police said he had drawn large sums of money out of cash machines in Marseille.

Anyone with information on the twins has been asked to contact the Swiss investigating authorities on +41 21 644 82 31 or their nearest police station.

 

Dublin: BREAKING the SILENCE:4: Still ‘No Room At The Inn’ For Ireland’s Homeless

Lost Children in the Wilderness ©

By J. P. Anderson (International registered copyright of the author 2006)

The nature and extent of homelessness in Dublin, (2001-2003).

There never has been any systematic gathering of information on the numbers of people who are homeless in Ireland, who they are or why they have become homeless.

Most research on the subject has been carried out by voluntary organisations although, in more recent years, a substantial body of research by official bodies, notably The (then) Eastern Health Board/ ( Now the HSE ) and the ‘Homeless -Initiative’, has been carried out, in order to inform the development of more effective responses to homeless people. Various sources of information-indicate that there are two broad categories of homeless people.

 

Those for whom poverty, combined with crisis, has precipitated homelessness. (E, g; relationship breakdown, evection), and those who have chronic disabilities. (E, g; mental illness, alcohol and/or drug dependence). The increases in homelessness in recent years are connected with a range of issues.

The cut-back in ‘community-care’ and other public services during the 1980s has left a number of people vulnerable to becoming homeless.

Similarly, the policy of ’care in the community’ for people in psychiatric institutions, implemented at the same time, failed to make adequate provision for support services and many of those people have since become homeless.

Increasing levels of domestic violence and family breakdown, has led to increased levels of homelessness among families and among men, who have been barred from the family home.

More recently, local community ’action groups’ (against drug-dealers and users) has led to increased homelessness amongst this group.

The current shortage in housing available to low-income households has left many more people vulnerable to becoming homeless.

The economic boom and consequent migration into Dublin has put private rented housing out of the reach of many low-income households.

Public Housing is also in short supply and, in many cases, does not cater to the needs of single person households, who comprise the majority of people who are homeless.

The most recent national assessment of homeless people, over the period of a week, undertaken in 1999 indicates that 75% of homeless people live in the eastern region area.

The report of the assessment (counted-in) was carried out by the ERSI, on behalf of The Homeless Initiative. Counted-In, identified 2,900 adults who fell into two distinct groups. One group (1,550) were largely women with children, the other group (1,350) were largely older men, staying in hostels, many of them for extended periods of time. Half of them had been homeless for more than to years, and over 400 of them for over *five years. (*Authors note: and my detailed research, identified many of these men who had been in hostel accommodation for periods of over 20 years.).

The assessment found that over 200 people were sleeping rough of who one in five was aged less than 20 years of age.

Dublin has a growing number of homeless people, they are younger and there are proportionately more families and women.

Between the assessment and now (2003), levels of homelessness have continued to grow, particularly among younger people and street sleepers.

By the nature of their lifestyles, homeless people are prone to health problems, studies have shown that homeless people have high levels, relative to the wider population, of mental and physical ill health, depression, obesity, drug and alcohol problems, hepatitis ’C’ and ’B’ and dental problems.

Clearly, many people who become homeless will have a range of support needs, which must be addressed alongside their need for housing.

According to the 1999 assessment of homelessness, 95% of homeless people in Dublin are in the City Council Area; The situation in Dublin has been exacerbated both by the lack of services for homeless people outside the city-centre area, and the practice of referring all homeless people to a central, homeless-persons-unit, (HPU), operated by the Northern Area Health Board / HSE, which provides income maintenance payments, under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, to homeless people and also referral to emergency accommodation and other services.

The movement of homeless people from their local communities into the city centre, away from their family, friends and other support networks, places additional stress on the families in addition to the person who has become homeless. Such a move, also poses a significant risk, particularly for young and otherwise vulnerable people , whom can quickly get caught up in a city-street sub-culture with its attendant dangers.

It has also contributed greatly towards the situation where, local authorities and health boards / HSE outside the Dublin-City-Council Area, provide virtually no direct services to homeless people.

Current services for homeless people tend to be narrowly focused on meeting the immediate needs of homeless people for food and shelter. There is little emphasis on linking people to appropriate services, reintegrating them into mainstream housing or preventing them from becoming homeless in the first place.

This together with the shortage of housing for people to move on to, has resulted in some people living long-term in hostels, effectively permanently socially excluding them, and others spending ’long’ extended periods in bed and breakfast and other ’temporary’ accommodation.

While there are approximately 700 hostel beds for homeless people in Dublin, fewer than half are available for emergency use, the balance being occupied on a long term basis. At any one time, there are between 500 and 600 households in bed and breakfast accommodation. Traditionally, the homeless population has comprised of largely single men and the provision of services reflects this.

Emergency accommodation and other support services for young people, families and women are severely under-supplied. Some homeless people still have nothing to do during the daytime, but to walk the streets of the city.

The vision,

by 2010, long term homelessness and the need for people to sleep rough will be eliminated. The risk of a person or family becoming homeless will be minimal, due to effective preventative policies and services.Where it does occur, homelessness will be short-term and all people who are homeless will be assisted into appropriate housing and the realisation of their full potential and rights as citizens. (Authors note: Source; ‘Shaping the Future’ Homeless Agency Report: 2001-2003).

“There is one seriously under-resourced mental health service for the *homeless in the HSE Northern Area. Mental health services for homeless people must be provided on a city-wide basis and must not be catchment bound. Such services should be concentrated in the inner-city areas and teams should be sufficiently well staffed and mobile to be able to follow patients. Close links must be developed with the specialist rehabilitation mental health services in the area to ensure that patients can be transferred to these services when appropriate and given the supports needed to help them retain a more settled life-style” . (* Authors note: Quote from the Inspector of mental health services: Annual Report 2004. Mental Health Commission).

Capuchin Friars Make Room for HomelessBrother Luke’s is situated only a two minute walk from Smithfield on Dublin’s North-Inner-City, close by is Benburb Street and Manor Street, mostly regarded as Dublin’s red-light area. North King Street and North Brunswick Street, lead into Morning Star Avenue, where are found the twin-hostels founded by Frank Duff also the founder of the Legion of Mary. One hostel is for men, the second for women and children. At the back of the Catholic Church in Church Street is the capuchin-day-centre, which was established in 1969 and has served the poor, the homeless and destitute with meals and food supplies since that time. It is packed six days a week, rows of tables seating up to eight persons at each, filled with young men and women, older people (mostly men), mothers with small children and babies and non-nationals. Brother Luke’s has been likened to the ’famed’ Bewley’s restaurant in Dublin’s Grafton Street at lunchtime. Anything from 100 to 250 might turn up each day. The food is free and is cooked by fully-qualified catering staff. Brother Kevin Crowley, who runs the centre, sadly notes the need to cater for an ever-growing number of homeless people. “When I started, it was only older men, but a few years ago the numbers started to increase significantly”. According to Brother Kevin, Drugs are drawing many more young people into homelessness – all ages from as young as 16 years of age, and often young mothers with their babies. There are a number of such ‘dinner houses’ and day centres in and around the centre of the city which ‘feed the homeless and the poor’ most have an ongoing need for funding and volunteers to help run the services. Recently the Catholic Churches CROSS-CARE services made an appeal for volunteers. I have estimated that the various charities between them provide some 3,000 mid-day meals for the homeless people of Dublin City, for six days each week.

Dublin: BREAKING the SILENCE: 3: Irish Mental Health Services ‘Crumbling And Shoddy’

By J. P. Anderson (International registered copyright of the author 2006)

Irish Mental Health Services ‘Crumbling and Shoddy’

(No Vision for Change)

Psychiatrists have called on the Irish Government to lift the embargo on public service recruitment, claming unless it is lifted a radical plan to change how people with mental health problems are treated will never be implemented.

It is estimated that one-in-four of the population is affected by mental health problems at some stage in their lives. This estimate is soundly based upon ‘collated’ national and international research data.

Launched in January 2006, and endorsed by the government, amid great fanfare ‘the plan’ A Vision For Change, recommended closing mental hospitals across the state and using the ‘ quite considerable funds generated’ to improve mental health services within the broad community. It was to move health-care to a community-based setting – where multidisciplinary teams would look after people. It recommended recruiting an additional 1,800 staff for mental health services and was to be implemented over the next 10 years.

Mental Health Ireland, which represents 96 local mental health associations throughout the state, said the HSE (Health Service Executive), had failed to appoint a ‘National Mental Health Services Directorate’ which was a key recommendation of ‘A Vision for Change’ policy. It believes that many of the report’s recommendations will not be implemented until this is done. Accusing the HSE of “lacking in the urgency” which the plan requires. It called on the Government to “fast-track” the plan.

Psychiatrist and spokeswoman for the Irish Psychiatrists Association, Dr Siobhan Barry, which represents more than 60 psychiatrists, said that if the (plans) were to have any credibility – then some kind of derogation was needed on the public service recruitment embargo.

“The embargo has contributed considerably to the delay in getting things moving”, said Dr Barry. “The delivery of the plan {A Vision for Change} is extremely disappointing”.

Dr Barry also criticised the level of funding for new services in mental health. She said the figure in this category had been reduced by €1million to €25 million in the last Budget, compared with the 2006 budget, she said the 2007 Budget figures included some costs for implementing aspects of the Mental Health Act and the Criminal Law Insanity Act, introduced last year, rather than spending purely on services.

Dr Barry said the recommendations in the plan were supposed to be delivered over seven to 10 years. “We need to focus better on it, to deliver it,” she said.

The IPA publishing a (yearly) progress report on the implementation of the plan – to ensure that the policy was put into practice said that its members were “dismayed” that almost no progress had been made yet in delivering key recommendations in the plan.

Dr Barry, consultant psychiatrist and co-author of the IPA report, said the health service was “littered” with reports that were never implemented and the IPA was determined it would not happen in this case.

“No capital programme crucial to replace the crumbling and shoddy parts of the service has yet been put in place,” she said. “This, in a situation when we are currently enjoying a property bonanza. Seems quite crazy.”

Dr Eamonn Moloney, consultant psychiatrist and co-author of the progress report, said almost one-third of community mental health teams had less than half the staff they needed. He said 24 posts would be provided nationally this year, but 660 staff was required. “At the same rate of development, it will be 25 years before A Vision for Change will be implemented,” he said. He also highlighted a lack of services and dedicated beds for older people with mental health problems, particularly for older people with dementia.

“If mental health doesn’t get it in the good times, then God knows what’s going to happen in the leaner times,” he said.

A statement from the HSE said “a great deal of progress” had been made and “sustained roll-out will continue during 2007 with a further €25 million being allocated to achieve the report’s proposals”.

Martin Rogan, HSE assistant national director for mental health, said the sale of mental health facilities would continue this year, with the proceeds reinvested in mental health facilities. Four child and adolescent in-patient facilities would be constructed and eight more child and adolescent multi-disciplinary teams would be rolled out, he said, and the ‘National Service Users’ Executive would be launched on January 31 st 2007.

 

 

   

Mental Health A Right:

“Mental-Health is no less a human right, than physical health and reasonable social comfort and security.” …

“Experience in some countries have demonstrated that blocking the access of people with mental illness to treatment, can result in more deplorable conditions for the mentally ill person and for his/her family and community than if he/ she were confined in a mental health facility”. …

“As a result of the major progress in the treatment of mentally disordered and mentally retarded persons which has occurred during the past three decades, it is possible for many individuals with mental illness to be treated while living in the community, and/or be transferred from institutional care, to the open life of the community.

If they are refused their right to work because of mental illness, their re-socialization is slow and their human rights are infringed. In general it is now possible to envisage the necessary after-care as one of the functions of the basic health services”. … The foregoing quotes are ‘extracts’ from the memorandum of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it presented to the 1970 session of the General Assembly of The United Nations.

Article 24 of the United Nations(1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child, (ratified by Ireland in 1992) states that:

‘The state shall recognise the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. … [And] shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services’.

The World Health Organization (2003), in Caring for Children and Adolescents with Mental Disorders: Setting WHO Direction, states that:

“The lack of attention to the mental health of children and adolescents may lead to mental disorders with lifelong consequences, undermines compliance with health regimes, and reduces the capacity of societies to be safe and productive”.

Background History:

During the 1980s in Ireland, The Irish Government followed the steps of the then British Prime-minister and conservative party leader Margaret Thatcher by following what became known as ’The Community Care Initiative’. By emptying old style mental hospitals, such as ‘Grangegorman’ in Dublin.

However, ‘community care’ turned out to be a cynical-penny-pinching exercise, which in fact meant, saving money on staff and overheads, the reality for most of the hospitals patients who ended up in this new

‘Community care’ was a dingy bed-sit, which they were not equipped to look after and bitter, cruel, exploitation by ‘niggard’ and greedy landlords.

*Over decades of institutional-care, the state deprived these people of their independence and their ability to look after themselves and made them totally-reliant on full-time carers for every need that they had. Then having deprived these people of their natural ability to look after themselves and live within a community, the state tipped them straight back into it.

(* Authors note: see Rehabilitation Mental Health Services).

What thereafter, was to happen to these unfortunate people?, in a country that professed to the world that they were good, holy, Christian, and an absolute pillar if virtue, especially in the area of human-rights, a subject dear to the heart of the Irish nation, and evidenced by the endless lectures Ireland has delivered to the errant outside world, expressing the wish that such nations who were tending to disregard the ’human rights’ and therefore the ’natural human dignity’ of their citizens, should amend their ways and follow the example that Ireland had set for its-self and wished that the rest of the world should follow its example. But things were not quite as they seemed to be. The delivery of health care is not like providing an electricity or telephone service, where the only difference between households in the service they receive is the amount of electricity that they use or the number of lines connected. Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, had this to say about ’community care’; “the phrase ’community care’ began to be used sometime in the early 1950s in Britain, precisely when, we do not know. Precisely is meant by the phrase, is not clear either. I have tried and failed to discover in any precise form the social origins of the term ’community care’. Political opinion and public may be misled or confused, if English social history is any guide, confusion has been the mother of complacency. What some hope will one day exist, is suddenly thought by many to exist already. About 1960, in Britain, a term appeared in the vocabulary of the Social Services, it was ’community care’. Somehow it sounded right and was quickly taken up; it still lacks a single precise definition. Many maintain that Enoch Powell. M.P. coined the phrase, as it was associated with his name, because of ’The Blue Book’. ’Health and Welfare: The Development of Community Care, which was published in 1963, when he was UK Minister for Health.

Schizophrenia:

Schizophrenia is a mental illness, characterized by disordered-thinking, delusions, hallucinations, emotional disturbance and withdrawl from reality.

Schizophrenia, is commonly thought to disproportionately affect people in the lowest socio-economic groups, although, some people claim that socially-disadvantaged persons with schizophrenia are only more visible than their more privileged counterparts not more numerous. Many people still see mental illness as a stigma whatever the cause. About one in every hundred Americans-including as many as one-third of homeless adults suffers from schizophrenia. Advancing knowledge about the role of the brains physical structures in mental illness should change our perceptions about such diseases, including depression and manic-depression. Mental illness afflicts more than 20% of all Americans, and about 40% per-cents of Americans with severe mental illness receive no treatment.

In the USA, schizophrenics occupy more hospital beds than do patients suffering from cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. At any given time, they account for up to half the beds in long-term care facilities and 40% of treatment days. With the aid of antipsychotic medication, to control delusions and hallucinations, about 70% of schizophrenics are able to function in society.

While the exact cause of schizophrenia is not known, it is belived to be caused by a combination of physiological and environmental factors. Studies have shown that there is clearly a hereditary component to the disorder. Family members of schizophrenics are ten times more prone to the disease than the general population, and identical-twins of schizophrenics have a 46% chance of having the illness themselves. Relatives of schizophrenics, also tend to have milder psychological disorders with some of the same symptoms as schizophrenia, such as, suspicion, communication problems, and eccentric behaviour. The initial symptoms of schizophrenia usually occur between the ages of 16 and 20 years, with some variations depending on type. Disorganised schizophrenia tends to begin early, usually in adolescence or young adulthood, while paranoid schizophrenia tends to start later, usually after the age of 25 or 30. In rare cases, schizophrenia may have its onset during childhood, and has been known to appear as early as five-years-of-age, occurring primarily in males, it is characterised by the same symptoms as adult schizophrenia. Diagnosis of schizophrenia in children can be difficult because delusions and hallucinations may be mistaken for childhood fantasies. It is important for the condition to be diagnosed as early as possible, the longer the symptoms last, the less well they respond to treatment. Even when treated, schizophrenia interferes with normal development in children and adolescents and makes new-learning difficult.

Researchers have found correlations between childhood behaviour and the onset of schizophrenia in adulthood. A 30 year longitudinal research project studied over 4,000 children born within a single week in 1946 in order to document any unusual developmental patterns observed in those children who later became schizophrenic. It was found, that a disproportionate number of them learned to sit, stand and walk late. They were also twice as likely as their peers to have speech-disorders-at the age of six and have played alone when they were young. One study, found that the routine physical movements of these children, tended to be slightly abnormal, in ways that most parents wouldn’t suspect were associated with a major mental illness, and that the children also tended to show fear and anger to an unusual degree.

It is estimated that 15 to 20% of schizophrenics commit suicide out of despair over their condition or because the ‘voices’ they hear tell them to do so, and up to 35% attempt to take their own lives or seriously consider doing so. Between 25 and 50% of people with schizophrenia abuse drugs or alcohol. The vast majority of both suicide attempters and completers have evidence of at least one major psychiatric disorder. These disorders are most often, affective disorders, causing changes in moods or emotions. Major depressive disorder is the single biggest factor for attempted and completed suicide.

The tendency of schizophrenics to discontinue medication is very harmful.

Each time a schizophrenic goes-off medication, the symptoms of the disease return with even greater severity and the effectiveness of the drug is reduced.

The onset of schizophrenia may be acute, developing over a few weeks or even days, or insidious. ICD-10 recognises seven categories of the disease; paranoid, hebephrenic, catatonic, simple, undifferentiated, residual and post-schizophrenic depression. Life events have been implicated in the precipitating of the first episode of illness in about 60% of patients, however, life stresses are involved in precipitating all acute psychiatric disorders and are not specific to schizophrenia. It is well known, that use of cannabis can provoke relapse in patients with schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness.

The main impact of cannabis abuse on marriage is related to the relapse which it induces in some patients with major mental-illness and the effects of euphoria and secondary *apathy is associated with the heavy persistent use of the drug. (*Authors note: Apathy; = lack of emotion). Cocaine, amphetamines (speed), hallucinogens, and cannabis, are the most readily available drugs on the black market, and although not associated closely with physical dependence, they are widely abused, due to their mood-enhancing properties and are also associated with serious psychiatric disturbances in many abusers.

Schizophrenia is the disorder which is at the nub of psychiatry, and created the necessity to build mental hospitals to house such patients Moreover, it is the disease which has led to the stigmatisation of psychiatry and to the erroneous association between mental-illness and violence. Most patients with psychiatric disorders do not commit crime, and conversely most crime is not committed by those who are psychiatrically ill. In spite of these facts, there is a common perception amongst the public, that the two are inextricably linked, particularly in relation to violent offences.

Immigration has long been believed to be associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, leading to speculation that the most unstable in a population migrate, this has not been verified by research, but data based on hospital-admission-data, as distinct from out-patient data, do confirm the dramatically higher admission rate for immigrants, a finding that has become politically sensitive in Britain.

Dublin: BREAKING the SILENCE:2: The Most Vulnerable Of Children Are Abandoned By The Irish State: ‘Half Full’ – ‘Half Empty’

Lost Children in the Wilderness ©

By J. P. Anderson (International registered copyright of the author 2006)

Half-full, Half-empty, Children in State Care

In February of 2002, it was revealed that ’disturbed children’ were being put-up in hotels because there were no secure places available for them. A Judge, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, said that, the state’s record of ’care for troubled children’ had “descended to new levels of farce”. In the months leading up to the case before the court, it had come to light that disturbed children had been held in mental hospitals, Garda stations, units for convicted young offenders and assessment centres for disturbed children, which are not meant to actually house troubled children. 

The case before the court again highlighted the fact that that residential care in Ireland was in serious crisis. Health Boards / HSE were recruiting staff with ’four Ds’ in heir leaving certificate, for children’s residential services, and they were taking on people who were good babysitters. …there needs to be a root and branch examination of children’s residential care in this country.When it opened in Lucan, County Dublin, in the autumn of 2000, Ballydowd was seen as a major step towards a solution for the care of children with serious behavioural problems, from the Dublin area that come before the courts. With numerous court cases highlighting the lack of adequate care places for troubled children, and the death of one of them, Kim O’Donovan, the opening of Ballydowd was seized upon by the government and health authorities as an indication of the progress they were making in a most difficult area; It was the first of it’s kind in Ireland. A purpose-built, secure residential home to cater for up to 24 young people with severe emotional and behavioural problems. Seventeen months on, however, and staff at Ballydowd claimed that the home was in a serious state of ’crisis’ which was putting the safety of both staff and children at risk. With other problems in residential centres, such as, The Department of Education-run, Finglas Children’s Centre, residential home, which also cares for young people with severe behavioural problems? The evidence suggest that the ’care’ of Ireland’s most troubled children remains in a state of ’crisis’, despite tens-of-millions of euro in investment, new legislation and other initiatives by government.

In the case of Ballydowd, there are three units, each with a capacity to care for eight children. However, despite recruitment drives abroad, there has only been a sufficient number of qualified staff recruited, to open one of the units. …Quoting the Health Board’s / HSE statement, the health board’s spokesman, acknowledged, there were some problems at Ballydowd and said that an independent review of the working of the unit was underway. “One of the biggest challenges for the board since Ballydowd opened was the recruitment and retention of staff for the centre, because of the special care and attention required by the young people, and the demand on the current resources available”.

According to Mr Owen Keenan, head of Barnardo’s children’s charity, the problems at Ballydowd and Finglas are caused by a greater failure in the childcare and social services system in Ireland. “The whole thing seems to be ‘crisis-driven’. It appears that we are in a situation where you have a series of crises that are being responded to, so part of the problem is that we’re fire-fighting all the time. We now have a situation that, at 4,200, we now have more children in care on a per-capita basis than in the United Kingdom. …Building high support units and centres which, while necessary, will not address the ‘fundamental problems’ of why so many children are developing such serious problems. …Earlier intervention and better help for families at risk are seen as the areas that need attention; We need to be a little more sophisticated in our response,…and take into account that a mix of provisions, tailored very-much to the individuals needs is required”.

Mr Paul Bell, a SIPTU (trade union) official in the Finglas Children’s Centre, said that there had been ongoing problems at Finglas for over two years. …”Finglas Children’s Centre, is in a serious state of ‘crisis’ because of two factors, the first is staff shortages, between 85 and 100 staff have left Finglas during the past two years. Secondly, the courts are referring children to Finglas who have serious behavioural difficulties that the centre was not designed to cope with”. According to Mr Bell, “staffs have been violently assaulted by some of the children and the Gardai (police) have been called to the centre on numerous occasions to quell violent outburst”.

Up to 4,000 children are in state care at any one time, as many as 3,600 of these are in ‘foster’ care. Children end up in foster care for a number of reasons, some have suffered abuse, more are there because of poor parenting, but most are in foster care because of neglect. Foster families are overloaded and the HSE (formerly health boards) are always seeking new foster-carers for the children.

The 2002, Annual Report from the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) expressed “serious concerns about the young age of some children in institutional care and their lack of access to psychiatric services. There are 176 children’s residential care centres in the state, 102 of tem are managed by health boards / HSE.

The Chief Inspector at the SSI, Ms Michele Cleark, said “Her staff had inspected up to 69 centres in all, but agreed that the fact that 33 had never been inspected by them was not good enough. (Authors note: What of the remaining 74 centres, not run by health boards?). In the centres examined during 2002, the number of children living in them was between four and five. Inspectors were concerned to find that the proportion of children in care under the age of twelve had increased from 26% in 2001 to 42% in 2002. “Two of these children were less than five years of age”. Said the report. …

 ”There was little evidence of children and young people being assisted ‘directly’ by their carers in understanding why they were in care, and in dealing with their feelings”. There was particular concern about the impact of this ‘deficit’ in the two ‘special care units’, which detain children under ‘special care orders’ from the courts. While these units have difficulty accessing child and adolescent psychiatric services, there is a “crisis” in obtaining such help for 16 to 18 year olds

 * .”With this age group Inspectors have encountered some extremely vulnerable young people–for whom a delay in access to services has seriously aggravated their difficulties” there is currently (2003) 4,500 children in care, with 13% in residential-care-centres, representing some 530 children.

 (*Authors note: The fact has been established, services must be in existence before patients can be referred to them.)

 Adult Psychiatric Services:

Existing adult services are not resourced to deal with adolescents. They lack appropriate multidisciplinary input, which would centre on family, school and social interventions. Adult services have acute psychiatric units and psychiatric hospitals and admit adolescents to these in-patient facilities. These facilities are not considered appropriate for the admission of adolescents. Adult out-patient clinics, day-hospitals and mental health centres are generally not appropriate for adolescents, and there tends to be a high number of referrals who do not keep their clinic appointments.

 Estimated Needs:

According to the 1996 Census figures, there are 140,816 persons aged 16 and 17 in this country. International and Irish epidemiological studies indicate that psychological disturbances of varying intensity exist in up to 20% of adolescents. However, only 2% of the total adolescent population has moderate to severe disabling conditions such as major psychiatric disorders. This would equate to 2,815 persons in Ireland in this specific target group, (I, e; 16 – 18 year olds who require an adolescent psychiatric service. Milder psychological problems could be dealt with by a primary care type service, for example, a community care psychology service.The Sub-Group experienced great difficulty in establishing the number of 16 – 18 year olds currently attending the adult services. Figures are available on the number of admissions to adult in-patient facilities. There is however, a lack of information relating to the number of referrals and non-attendees to out-patient clinics.

This lack of information made it difficult for the Sub-Group to establish how many 16 – 18 year olds, within the estimated 2% severe mental illness category are currently in receipt of psychiatric service input.

 

Service Principles:All members of the Sub-Group were in agreement that the services for 16-18 year olds should be *equitable (* Authors note: – impartial), accessible, user-friendly and flexible, taking into consideration the development level of the person involved.

Psychiatric services for adolescents should include the following:

1. Multidisciplinary teams,

headed by a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist with a special interest in the psychiatric disorders of later adolescence. These teams should ideally consist of a Consultant Psychiatrist. Senior Registrar. Registrar. Psychologist. Social Worker. Psychiatric Nurse. Occupational Therapist. Speech and Language Therapist and Child Care Worker. 

2. Day hospital services

 

to include a mix of occupational therapy, various treatment programmes, such as group therapy, social skills etc, and an educational focus. This day hospital service would cater those who require more in depth assessment and a more comprehensive treatment than can be offered in the general out-patient setting, but do not require in-patient treatment. They will also provide rehabilitation after hospital admission.

 

 

3. Assertive outreach

services to provide nursing and supportive services in the home, school etc.

 

 

 

 

4. In-patient services: acute same day in-patient admission should be available to adolescents with major psychiatric illnesses who require it.

 

It is acknowledged that the number of such admissions would be small. In this age group, it is preferred to keep numbers of admissions to a minimum. The in-patient team should also have access to nursing staff to provide an intensive care community based treatment service in order to minimise the needs for beds . There should be a flexible system when under-occupancy in the in-patient unit would allow the flexibility for the staff to work in intensive out-patient ‘community-care’ or the day hospital facility.

 

 

5. Liaison to General Hospitals.

 

Adolescents who overdose, attempt self harm or have acute psychiatric illness often present to general hospitals as their first point of contact. Hospitals likely to encounter adolescents in these circumstances should have access to liaison adolescent psychiatric services.6. Rehabilitation services. There should be a rehabilitative approach to the care of adolescents who present with major psychiatric disorders. In some cases it may be necessary to provide step-down services such as, community residences for the recovery and early rehabilitation phase of treatment. …

 

“There is no capacity in the Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Service at present to cater for the needs of 16 to 18 year olds. However, there would be willingness on the part of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service to take on responsibility for this group of patients if adequate additional resources required could be made available over the next few years“. In general adult psychiatrist has no difficulty in treating persons aged 16 to 18 who are suffering from a major mental illness. The particular concerns of the adult service in relation to 16 to18 year-olds, relate to those young people who are deemed to be ‘ out of control’ and, typically, have a conduct -disorder as opposed to a mental illness. In this regard, capital investment of approximately €38.09m / (£30m) is being made available by the Government to put in place additional high-support and special-care places for this particular group of children who need intensive intervention. The number of high support and special care places available nationally has increased from 17 in 1996 to a current total of over 120. These include the 12 place Rath-na-nOg, High Support Unit in Castleblaney and the 24 place Crannog Nua, High Support Unit in Portrane, which are being opened on a phased basis. The increased availability of such places should eliminate the pressure on adult psychiatric units to accept troubled children who are not suffering from a mental illness. The role of psychiatry in the high support child-care setting is a consultative one. Psychiatrist does not provide in-patient treatment to patients in the high-support/special care units because such units are not appropriate therapeutic environments for in-patient care. Therefore, if a resident of a special care unit develops a severe mental illness, admission to an acute psychiatric unit may be required. …

 

 

Recommendations:

The current arrangements, whereby the adult services provide a service to their catchment area, including the 16 to 18 age cohort, should continue on an interim basis. …It is proposed that the recommendations of this report be reviewed after five years.

 

‘A Better Future Now’ Position statement on psychiatric services for children and adolescents in Ireland. Extracts from, the occasional paper OP60. August 2005. By courtesy of the, Irish College of Psychiatrists. Dublin.The Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Irish College of Psychiatrists commissioned a sub-group under the chairmanship of Dr Brendan Dowdy to provide this report to the Faculty on the current state of child and adolescent psychiatric services, estimate the service need and plan for future service development. This position statement was approved by the Faculty and the Executive Committee of the Irish College of Psychiatrist. …

Executive summary:

In this report the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Irish College of Psychiatrists sets out where the psychiatric services for children and adolescents are now, estimates the need for services, and presents a model for future services. An action plan for implementation is also proposed.

The funding of the mental health services in 2003 accounted for just 6.8% of the health budget, amounting to €622.8 million. Child and adolescent psychiatric services accounted for only 5-10% of spending on mental health services, while serving 22.68% of the population (around €53 per child under 16 years of age).

 

 

 

The Faculty has made an estimate of the additional service resources and funding needed for:

Specialist-

 

out-patient, adolescent, in-patient, day-patient, hospital liaison, intellectual disability, forensic, alcohol and substance misuse, suicide prevention and deliberate self-harm, and also services for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity/hyperkinetic disorder, conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder or an eating disorder and services for looked-after children, service evaluation, academia and research. There are currently 55 whole-time equivalent (WTE) consultant child and adolescent psychiatry posts in the Republic of Ireland, a ratio of 1:16 150 of the population under 16 years of age. In Finland this ratio is 1:6000 (of the population aged 0-19 years).

 

 

There are currently 40 specialist out-patient multidisciplinary teams (the recommended number is 59) serving local communities, the majority of which are significantly below the recommended multidisciplinary staffing complement.

  

In-patient facilities for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents under the age of 16 years are located in two centres which have a total of 20 beds (the recommended number is 156 beds).

 

The in-patient facilities for the 16- to 17- year old age group require an additional 80 beds.

Adolescent services are poorly developed. Sub-specialty services have been developed to a very limited degree.

A comprehensive service for young people up to the age of 18 years would require a total of 150 WTE consultant child and adolescent psychiatry posts.

The recommended service level up to the age of 18 years would require an extra annual expenditure of approximately €80.million and a capital investment of approximately €150.million.

The Faculty requests that the Ministry for Health and Children undertakes further analysis and reports back to the Minister of with advice on the workforce development, funding plans and time frames necessary to support full implementation of the recommendations set out in this policy statement…

‘This position statement translates the principles and recommendations set out by a variety of bodies into a programme for the development of child and adolescent psychiatric services in the Republic of Ireland. It formulates a strategic plan to bring the service into the future‘…

The National Task Force on Medical Staffing (Department of Health and Children, 2003) in its report ’recommended increasing’ the number of consultant child and adolescent psychiatrists, (previously recommended by the Working Group’s first report), by a factor of two. It will therefore be necessary to increase the number of specialist training places to meet this projected need. …

In recognition of the fact that children’s lives do not occur in a vacuum, both policy (as set out in the Health Strategy 2001, Department of Health and Children) and best practice require a holistic approach to be taken to the needs of children and adolescents with mental health problems. Mental health problems in children that are more severe than their parents can with, without professional help, are not solely the concern of mental health services. The development and overall functioning of children and adolescents are the concern of a wide range of services and agencies, such as, education, community-care and paediatric medicine. Mental health services cannot respond to mental health needs in isolation. Developmental psychiatry can be defined as the recognition, assessment, treatment and management of mental health states and behaviours across the lifespan. It is not merely the study of childhood years, but of the continuities and discontinuities across the life cycle.

Need for child and adolescent psychiatric services

Early years (0-5 years) – ‘Trust, autonomy and initiative’The importance of early experiences to mental health functioning in later life has been well documented, particularly in areas such as the attachment relationship with parents and carers. Interventions specifically targeting this age group can have preventive/protective value and have been shown to be successful (e, g; the Community Mothers Programme and programmes for –

the prevention of antisocial behaviour in childhood and adolescence). …Where concerns arise regarding a possible delay or disturbance in development, it is not unusual for a number of services and professionals to be involved, as the precise nature of the difficulty may not be immediately evident. In addition to mental health services, other professionals likely to be involved include; general practitioners, public health nurses, speech and language therapist, clinical psychologist, educational psychologist, occupational therapists, paediatricians, specialist pre-school staff and representatives from the Department of Education and Science.

Primary-school-age children (6 – 11 years) – ‘Industry’

The mental health needs of primary-school-age children must also be responded to in a manner that takes account of the key people in their lives. A model such as that outlined for the younger child is again recommended. In addition to the services identified above, the Community Care Social Work Service or the Family Support Worker Service may also be included.

Adolescents, and young people (12 – 15 and 16 – 17 years, respectively) – ‘Identity, intimacy’

The Adolescent Health Strategy (National Conjoint Child Health Committee, 2001), underlined the importance of developing adolescent-friendly services. A challenge is presented to mental health services to become more appealing to young people, through liaison with schools, youth clubs and so on. If mental health services are made available in such settings they will be more accessible to potential users; there will also be benefits in terms of de-stigmatising mental health issues and encouraging *help seeking ( * Authors note: by young people). A wide range of services is also required within the mental health services, such as, day programmes, in order to make the service as accessible as possible to adolescents.

Implications of a developmental perspective:

 

A holistic approach to the child, as outlined above, has considerable implications for service delivery, as a significant amount of time will be spent liaising with other agencies and professionals involved with the child. The complexity of the child and family presentations requires ongoing, intensive, multidisciplinary assessment. The increasing awareness of disorders such as ADHD and of the importance of the early years has had a directly observable effect on services, with increasing numbers of children referred.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Benefits of a developmental perspective

 

This holistic approach to the mental health problems of children has both short-term and long-term benefits. There is evidence that it offers the best outcomes for the child, which should be the top priority of services. – Because the family are involved in the assessment and intervention, both as a unit and as siblings and parents, there are beneficial effects for all the family and family functioning can improve. Children’ teachers will also be involved, and they will gain knowledge and experience that will help them deal with other children, creating a ’multiplier – effect’. The beneficial effects can also encompass more than direct improvements in mental health. For example, when the behaviour of children with ADHD can be improved such that they are able to remain in school, their prospects for a fuller and more productive life is greatly enhanced. Children, who leave school early, show lower levels of attainment in many areas of life. Further, a problem that is addressed in childhood will in many cases prevent a problem remaining into adulthood, when it may be more resistant to treatment. Thus, the long quality of life for the child is enhanced. An additional benefit is the likelihood of these children becoming better parents for their own children, therefore breaking the cycle of problems that often exists. In these ways, the child and adolescent psychiatric services can add immeasurable health and social gain to all those with whom they come in contact, ensuring ’a better future now’ for our children.

 

 

  

 

Prevention of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders:

 

The prevention of child and adolescent mental health disorders can be conceptualised as having three layers (Graham et al, 1999):

 

Primary prevention tries to stop a disorder occurring by removing he cause.

  

Secondary prevention tries to stop the disorder at its onset, and prevent its extension.

 

Tertiary prevention tries to limit disability from an established disorder.

In the realm of public health, nine areas have been identified which, if improved upon, should lead to increased mental well-being among children. These are:

Poverty alleviation, 2. Increasing neighbourhood unity, 3. Good housing, 4. Increasing employment, 5. Good child protection from abuse and neglect, 6. Accident prevention, 7. Education, 8. Services to reduce marital disharmony, 9. Reducing alcohol consumption.

Specific primary prevention measures by health and other professionals can be conceptualised in terms of life stages. These sub-divide into six intervention phases:

1. Preparation for parenthood, 2. Antenatal care, 3. Birth and postnatal period, 4. Pre-school period, 5. Middle childhood, 6. Adolescents.

The quality of services provided during each of these six life stages by health and other professionals will impinge on mental health.

Secondary prevention tries to identify the presence of a disorder at onset and, by providing an appropriate therapeutic intervention, prevent it getting more serious.

Tertiary intervention tries to limit the secondary disability that arises from the presence of an established disorder. At the levels of secondary and tertiary prevention, the provision of comprehensive, effective services working with families and other professionals who have contact with the child is all important.

Children at risk of psychiatric disorder:

 

Research has shown that there are increased rates of psychiatric disorder linked to the following factors.

 

Social factors:

 

Children in urban (city) areas usually have twice the rate of disorder of their ‘rular’ peers.

 

Children who live in environments characterised by unemployment, family discord, family violence, family break-up, social disadvantage (discrimination, isolation, homelessness, immigration) and traumatised circumstances have increased rates of disorder.

  

Children who come to the notice of community-care social services because of child care and protection concerns-and in particular because of confirmed physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect – have increased rates of disorder.

 

Children in care (I, e; being cared for by a relative, or in foster care, children’s homes or a secure-unit), have significantly increased rates of disorder.

Children of families who are experiencing discrimination, a result of their cultural or ethnic background are more vulnerable to mental health problems. In Ireland, this specifically includes the Travelling community and refugees.

Other conditions:

 

Children with language and communication problems have three times the general population prevalence of psychiatric disorder.

 

Children with specific developmental disorders (e, g; dyslexias and dyspraxias) have increased rates of disorder.

  

Children with intellectual disability (I, e; an IQ less than 70) have two to four times the general population prevalence, with an increased prevalence as the severity of the intellectual disability increases.

 

Stressors:

 

Children who have been physically or sexually abused, or both, have an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorder, with rates probably three times higher than in the general population. The precise rate is influenced by the severity of the abuse and the family supports available following abuse.

 

Children whose parents have a psychiatric illness, or an alcohol or drug misuse problem, show increased rates of disorder. This risk is related to the effects of the parent’s difficulties, and on their ability to provide a safe and appropriate caring environment for their child or children.

  

 

Physical illness and disability:

 

Children with a chronic illness have twice the general population prevalence of psychiatric disorder; while with both a chronic illness and a physical disability have prevalence three times that of the general population.

 

Children with brain disorders, especially epilepsy and head injury, have five times the general population prevalence of psychiatric disorder.

  

 

Prevalence of childhood psychiatric disorders:

 

It is often the case that the data required to assess the need for services are not readily available. We are fortunate; however, to have reliable information on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in childhood and reliable information on vulnerability factors in the population, based on international and Irish research findings. The incidence and prevalence of mental and behavioural disorders in childhood increase with age. Overall, 20% of children have a disorder at any one time; 10% will have a mild disorder, 8% will have a moderate to severe disorder and 2% will have a disabling disorder. There is an equivalent of mental health disorder in the child as in the adult population. Among younger children, boys have more disorders than girls, but this evens-out by middle to late adolescence.

 

Child and adolescent psychiatric disorders encompass a broad range, from psychosis, depression and eating disorders, through anxiety and attachment disorders, to autism and *pervasive ( * Authors note; ‘universal’) developmental disorders. Diagnosis of a childhood psychiatric disorder requires detailed assessment and observation, which build up a picture of problems and symptoms and the impairments which result. A number of factors are considered in assessing the significance of a mental health problem or disorder: its severity, complexity and persistence; the risk of secondary handicap; the state of the child’s development; and the presence or absence of protective factors, risk factors and stressful social factors. …

  

 

Estimating need:

 

As child and adolescent psychiatric services are specialist services, it is the 8% of children with moderate / severe and the 2% of children with disabling disorders who should be referred to them. As many disorders are often undetected in the community, these numbers are not always evident at the level of specialist services.

 

Estimates of prevalence can be used to enable services to estimate the level of undetected disorder. For example, one would expect to see 1547 cases of ADHD / hyperkinetic disorder in an area with a population of 340,000. If the services in this area see 300 cases, there are approximately 1247 undetected cases in the community. While many of these may be milder than the referred cases, severe undetected disorder can have major consequences for the child, the family, the school and community. Measures to improve detection of these disorders in the community could include educational initiatives for community-based professionals (e, g; family doctors, teachers and social workers). This type of initiative may bring about an increase in the number of cases being referred to child and adolescent psychiatric services, which could in turn bring about even greater pressure on existing services, unless they are adequately resourced. …

( Authors note: Quoted from; A better future now. By courtesy of the Irish College of Psychiatrists).

  

 

The Health Strategy,

 

(Quality and Fairness) of the Department of Health and Children (2001), sets the health agenda for organising the future health system around a ‘new vision’: The system will be equitable, people centred, accountable, and quality driven. Quality and Fairness states that gaps exist in the provision of mental health services for children and adolescents. The health Strategy outlines a number of initiatives to improve children’s health, including;

 

 

“Mental health services for children and adolescents will be expanded:

Implementation of the recommendations of the First Report of the Review Group on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:

Development of mental health services to meet the needs of children between 16 and 18 years of age“.

 

 

 

 

The Health of Our Children:

The second annual report of the Chief Medical Officer (Department of Health and Children, 2001), states:

“Approaches to the promotion and development of sound mental health for children, and the identification and treatment of psychological and psychiatric disorders, have been patchy, uncoordinated and under-resourced.The absence of epidemiological information relating to children’s mental health on a national basis is a significant limitation in our current system. …A highly developed information system is required, in order to underpin approaches to quality assurance and evaluation of mental health prevention and treatment services, to monitor trends in incidence, and to identify risk factors and risk groups”. The Department of Health and Children (2000), in its National Children’s Strategy, states; that ‘Children will be supported to enjoy optimum physical mental and emotional well-being’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dublin: Strategy Of 2011 General Election Focus Is A CON-JOB About Reforms And Jobs

Election 2011: Live updates 

ELECTION 2011: Full indepth coverage

With less than three weeks to go to polling day, the political parties continue to outline their election pledges at a series of events around the country today.

 

Micheál Martin – Plans to create jobs in the agri-food sector

 

 

 

Gerry Adams – Launching Sinn Féin‘s election campaign

With less than three weeks to go to polling day, the political parties continue to outline their election pledges at a series of events around the country today.

Among the issues being highlighted today are jobs, political reform and the proposed abolition of the Health Service Executive.

Fine Gael has long been critical of the HSE and this afternoon in Dublin it will be outlining its plans for the abolition of the executive.

The party is keen to stress that the body is the brainchild of Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who is a former Minister for Health.

Meanwhile, Mr Martin will be at the Farmers’ Market in Blackrock in Co Cork, highlighting Fianna Fáil’s plans for creating jobs in the agri-food sector.

Jobs will also be on the Labour agenda today as one of the key planks of the party’s plan to deal with unemployment is its proposed Strategic Investment Bank.

The party will give the details at a news conference in Dublin this morning.

Sinn Féin President and candidate for Louth Gerry Adams is formally launching his party’s election campaign at the National Gallery in Dublin.

There will be 41 Sinn Féin candidates at the gallery for the launch.

Green Party leader John Gormley will this afternoon join colleagues at the publication of plans to reform political party funding.

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Winfrith, Dorset: Nursery Worker Arrested Over Child Sexual Abuse Claims

A nursery worker has been arrested following an allegation of sexual assault at a Dorset childcare centre.

Nursery Worker Arrested Over Abuse Claim: Clck On Image To Play Video

The incident is alleged to have occurred at the Starlight Childcare Centre in Winfrith. It has temporarily closed while police investigate.

The suspect has been released on bail pending an investigation. 

Education watchdog Ofsted has suspended the nursery’s licence – it will remain closed until the suspension is lifted.

The nursery looks after children from birth to eight years old and has capacity for 25 children.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “It should be emphasised that this investigation is in the preliminary stages and, at this time, no person has been convicted of any offence.

“This investigation will be conducted by the child abuse investigation team.

“The primary concern of Dorset Police and its partner agencies – including social services – is the continued safety of all children who attend this nursery.”

An Ofsted spokesman added: “Ofsted is aware of the police investigation and is working closely with the police and the Wareham Childcare team.

“The nursery registration has been temporarily suspended.”

Nursery Worker Arrested Over Abuse Claim Play video

London: Anti-Paedophile Police Checks To Be Relaxed: Report

Millions of people are to be spared criminal records checks before they can work with children.

Anti-paedophile checks to be eased Enlarge photo

According to The Daily Telegraph, only those with intensive contact with children or vulnerable people will have to submit themselves to vetting procedures under the Government’s plans.

An announcement on the vetting and barring scheme introduced by the former Labour government is expected shortly following a review instituted by the coalition last October.

Home Secretary Theresa May initially called a halt to the programme, which would have required more than nine million people to register themselves with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). Under the proposals to be announced, about half that figure would be vetted, the Telegraph reported. At the same time, the Government is to announce that criminal record checks are to be sent to individuals first – before they go to potential employers – to allow them to challenge any mistakes, the paper said.

Criticisms have included more than 12,000 innocent people being labelled as paedophiles, violent thugs and thieves through an error, councils banning parents from playgrounds saying only vetted “play rangers” would be allowed in, and parents running into difficulties when trying to share the responsibilities of the school run.

The review has been led by the Government’s independent adviser for criminality information management, Sunita Mason.

Among the factors being considered has been whether the disclosure of minor offences and police intelligence to prospective employers within the criminal records check should still form part of the process.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are due to make more detail available shortly.”

The ISA scheme was developed in response to the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman by caretaker Ian Huntley. It was designed to prevent unsuitable people working with children and vulnerable adults, with employers facing prosecution for breaches.

An independent review of the scheme took place under Labour following complaints that volunteers were being discouraged because the registration net was too wide. As a result, ministers agreed to vet adults only if they saw the same group of children or vulnerable people once a week or more, rather than once a month as originally proposed.

Dublin: Rachel Peavoy’s Death From Hypothermia In Her Ballymun Council Flat Exposes The Suffering Of Irish Society’s Most Vulnerable People

An inquest finding that hypothermia caused the death of 30-year-old mother-of-two Rachel Peavoy in her council flat is a stark reminder of how society’s most vulnerable are suffering as the economic crisis worsens, writes Scott Millar IN THE IRISH EXAMINER

 www.irishexaminer.com

THE Ballymun housing scheme on Dublin’s northern fringe has, since its completion in the late 1960s, been associated with social and economic depravation. Although all but one of its seven multi-storey towers, named after the signatories of the 1916 proclamation, are now demolished, the much-vaunted regeneration of the area is yet to be finished, several years after its supposed completion date.

The flat in which Rachel Peavoy died on the night of January 11, 2010, is contained in one of the scheme’s smaller housing blocks.

Despite its reputation, Ballymun’s apartments are well regarded by residents for their cost-effective, efficient, communal under-floor heating systems. It was the decision by the council to switch off the heating in the block where Rachel and her two sons were the last remaining residents which may well have led to her death and is now the centre of a call for a full public investigation. Rachel’s inquest held in late January found she had died of hypothermia, with evidence from gardaí that her apartment was “perilously cold”.

The inquest heard she had contacted the council, local Fianna Fáil Minister Noel Ahern and her doctor concerning the apartment’s freezing temperature, but had not been provided with an alternative source of heating.

Rachel had been awaiting a move to one of the new houses which are being built as part of the Ballymun Regeneration Project. It is, as yet, unclear if she had turned down the offer of moving to another apartment when regeneration began on her block of flats. Many residents have been reluctant to take the first accommodation offered to them by the council, fearful of falling down the waiting list for a more suitable property.

It’s a “Catch-22” situation that local community activist John Dunne is well aware of: “This is a big problem for people, waiting to get a house. Often people will wait out until the house is built, so it’s only one move. People have been waiting a very long time for this project to be completed; a lot of the estates that were to be built by now haven’t even been started. People feel they have one chance and want to get the best home they can.”

He added; “Most people in the flats rely on the under-floor heating because it was so good. They don’t have other sources of heating or in many cases the money to buy them.”

Initially, the Celtic Tiger-era regeneration project, begun in 2001, was to be fuelled by so-called public private partnerships (PPP) which have now fallen through leaving NAMA in possession of some sites and derelict blocks scattered across the scheme, with a largely deserted shopping mall at its centre.

Local Labour TD Roisín Shortall said she had serious concerns about the PPPs from an early stage, as private developers pushed the regeneration project away from providing new low-rise council housing to replacement high-rise private apartment blocks, many of which lie largely vacant with no buyers.

On the issue of problems with people heating their homes in the area, Ms Shortall said; “A lot of money for special payments from the council would seem to have dried up. There was also meant to be measures to reduce the impact of the carbon tax on electricity bills for low-income families, but they have not materialised. This is making heating a growing issue.”

A conference next Monday and Tuesday in Dublin will bring together experts from Britain and Ireland to discuss the problem of fuel poverty, which is a factor in several deaths each year. Among those organising the event is Energy Action, a charity dedicated to assisting those in fuel poverty through locally-based insulation programmes.

Energy Action general manager Charles Roarty said; “There are currently 375,000 households on fuel allowance in the Republic, this compares to well under 300,000 prior to the recession. There are combinations of factors which are causing the increase, the carbon tax increase in fuel prices which is over and above a global increase in energy prices. Then you have the recent cold winters combined with the recession reducing people’s incomes.”

Among the areas where the charity has found some of the most severe fuel poverty problems is Duhallow, Co Cork were an insulation project has been established.

According to Mr Roarty, because about 80% of Irish housing stock is privately-owned, insulation is poorer than in other EU countries.

Mr Roarty added; “What is key to combating the problem is information being provided to people about the importance of proper heating, information to advice on what to do as regards curtains and timers that can be used to save money. There is a key role for the state and local authorities to push an integrated approach on this issue.”

The problem of fuel poverty may become an issue in the election. In an RTÉ debate on Thursday night, right-wing commentator Cormac Lucy attempted to use Rachel’s death to attack the record of the Labour Party, who controls Dublin City Council. It is an intervention that disgusted John Dunne; “Let’s be honest about it, the city councils have no power, they have no resources beyond a department that is cutting resources. For those that championed greed to now attack people over what are the fruits of their failures is bit much to take.”

On legal advice, Rachel’s family and Dublin City Council are not commenting directly on the young mother’s case until the final Coroner’s Court hearing on February 24.

Rachel’s two young sons, Leon and Warren, are now being cared for by her sister in one of the new houses in Ballymun so desired by their mother.

Dublin: Soaring Drug Related Deaths Linked To Methadone & Anti-Depressants: HRB Figures

DRUG-RELATED deaths involving anti-depressants and methadone have soared, new figures show.

And there is mounting concern over the spread of heroin, with the drug being involved in more deaths in 2008, compared to 2007.

But statistics show that legal substances, including tranquillisers and alcohol as well as anti-depressants and methadone, are involved in the bulk of drug deaths.

There were 524 drug-related deaths in 2008, some 293 of which were direct poisonings from one or more drugs.

Of the 293 deaths:

– Anti-depressants were involved in 77 deaths, up from 47 in 2007 (+64%).

– Methadone was implicated in 78 deaths, compared to 53 in 2007 (+32%).

– Heroin was involved in 86 deaths, compared to 78 in 2007 (+7%).

– Cocaine was linked to 58 deaths, down from 66 in 2007 (-12%).

The National Drug-Related Deaths Index, compiled by the Health Research Board, shows that prescribed tranquillisers, known as benzodiazepines, continue to be implicated in most deaths (117), although this was a reduction on 2007 (123).

Other prescription drugs were linked to 59 deaths, down from 62. Alcohol was involved in 70 deaths, a drop from 85.

The typical age of poisoning deaths was 35, including 13 deaths among 15-19 year olds and 30 aged 20-24.

Daithí Doolan, of CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign, said the involvement of prescription drugs in so many deaths raised “serious questions” about prescription practices.

Speaking at the launch of their election campaign, he said if these issues were not a priority for the next government “unfortunately there will be more and more people buried”.

The index shows the number of poisonings rose in Dublin. Outside Dublin, the south-east accounted for the most deaths (34, up from 28 in 2007).

Paul Delaney, of the Cornmarket Project in Wexford, described the south-east figure as “shocking” and said there continued to be a “dearth of treatment services” in the area.

The report said there were a total of 524 deaths in 2008, compared to 535 in 2007 (the highest ever), but said the 2008 figure is “likely to be revised upwards”.

The remaining deaths in 2008 — 231 — were due to non-poisonings: 120 from medical causes, such as drug-related infections, and 101 from trauma, such as suicides or risky behaviour.

Meanwhile, separate figures show the number of people to have officially died by suicide in Cork has risen by more than 50% since the start of the economic crisis.

Latest figures detailed at the HSE South regional health forum show that in 2008 a total of 64 people lost their lives in this way. By the end of 2009 this surged to 93.

 

 

 

www.drugs.ie www.citywide.ie