The number of children that have died while in State care or in contact with social services is likely to rise above the current figure of 188, Minister for Children Barry Andrews indicated today.
Mr Andrews said the total had a "slightly open end", particularly with regard to young adults, and that calculating a definitive number would be difficult as some young people would have died having left care or the country.
Last month the HSE said 37 young people in care had died, up from an earlier figure of 23. On Friday, the HSE revised the figure upwards by 151 deaths to include those in contact with social services.
The new figure, it said, was based on a wider definition of deaths to include children who were known to social services, or young people aged 18-21 who were in aftercare.
The majority of deaths were due to unnatural causes (102). Most of these young people died as a result of suicide (26), drug overdoses (19), unlawful killings (12), road traffic incidents (18) and other accidents (27). A further 86 deaths were linked to natural causes or health conditions.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio, Mr Andrews said the authorities had left the category of 18-21 year olds open for a number of weeks to gather further information,
“[The Health Information and Quality Authority] and the HSE agreed there would be a slightly open end, particularly in the area of young adults where there would be difficulty being absolutely definitive because some of them would have left care.”
When questioned if he was satisfied if the 188 figure would rise, Mr Andrews said “essentially, what you have just said is correct”.
Mr Andrews said it was portrayed sometimes that there was a level of carelessness in calculating the numbers.
“This is specifically agreed between Hiqa and the HSE, and Hiqa has done a trawl of the way in which deaths like this are systematically looked at in other countries so there will be certainty.”
Mr Andrews said the Government was on target to achieve the goal set out by the Ryan Report Implementation Group of hiring 200 new social workers.
Some 25 new social workers have so far been recruited, he said, and a further 175 would be in place by the end of the year.
