THE MINISTER FOR Children has described as “harrowing” a report into the deaths of vulnerable children living under the care of the State, which is due to be published in full later today.

A report by the Independent Child Death Review Group found that 196 children had died while in the care of the State over period of 10 years (2000 – 2010). It found that 112 children died of unnatural causes – such as drug overdoses, suicide, road traffic incidents or unlawful killings - and that some of those deaths had been preventable.

The report concluded that the majority of the children who had died during the period examined had not received adequate protection from the State authorities. Investigators found records pertaining to children in “complete disarray” and, in some cases, not even a record of death could be found, the Irish Time reports.

Earlier this week, Jillian van Turnhout – the former CEO of the Children’s Rights Alliance – commented on leaked details of the report, saying that it had pointed to “systemic failure”.

“My understanding is that it details errors and poor practice by HSE staff and social workers. Every one of these numbers in the report is a child and this report has been looking at many deaths that could have been prevented,” she told TheJournal.ie.

Minister Fitzgerald is to publish the report, which is understood to be several hundred pages long, this afternoon. It is believed that it will call for independent inquires in some cases, reports RTÉ.

Read: Report on deaths of children in State care shows ‘systemic failure’