NI Conservatives’ co-chair, Trevor Ringland, has called for a wide ranging review, after revelations about children in care being abused and exploited.
“The situation which is being uncovered by the PSNI is appalling and it is incumbent on the minister and his department to find out how this was possible and how we can prevent it from ever happening again”, Trevor said. “The care system looks after some incredibly vulnerable children and it is imperative to find out why some of them came to be in a position to be abused and exploited.”
“This is clearly a hugely complex issue and, apart from the criminal investigation being pursued by the police, there should be a wide ranging review of the system. We need to look at the laws within which care professionals are required to work and whether they make the job of protecting children from predators easier or more difficult. We also need to look at any failings within the care system, which abusers are able to exploit.”
“This issue should be right at the top of Edwin Poots’ list of priorities at the moment. It’s disappointing to see the minister diverting time and resources into a completely irrelevant court action to prevent gay people from giving blood, when there are urgent issues like this in his in tray.”