27/02/2008

Childline Calls Unanswered

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has revealed that over half of the calls made to Childline go unanswered.

The charity answered 294,908 of the 630,812 calls made to it during 2007, and blamed a lack of resources for its inability to answer all the calls made.

The figure is however a nine per cent improvement on 2006 and the ISPCC said that while it is pleased at being able to respond to more callers last year, it is hoping to improve on the figures further.

According to the figures released, 13% of the calls it dealt with last year related to abuse and violence. In addition, 16% of calls were connected to issues of sexuality, while four per cent were concerned with mental health issues.

The Charity has been faced with an unprecedented number of calls placed to Childline over the past few years. In 2002, the helpline responded to 101,658 calls from children, equivalent to 22% of all calls to the service. Last year, staff at the helpline were able to answer 47% of all calls.

The charity has however recently unveiled a new strategy aimed at ensuring it can answer all calls to its helpline by 2011.

(DW)

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