Plea for new agency to investigate child abuse claims

A PROBE by the RTÉ Investigations Unit has revealed that children were left in a west of Ireland foster home for years despite allegations of sexual abuse against one of the family.

A young girl placed in the foster home alleged she had been abused by a teenage family member in 2007.

She was removed from the home, but two other foster children - a boy and a girl - remained with the family.

The report found that, four years later, the second girl also made abuse allegations against the same family member.

She was removed from the home, but the boy remained with the family for another year.

A prosecution is being taken in relation to the abuse allegations - most of them relating to the second girl.

In light of the revelations, CEO of Barnardos Fergus Finlay, is now calling for the establishment of an independent and permanent statutory body to investigate cases of this nature.