The problem is that a political organization which is candid and open about its faults superficially looks worse than a political organization which overs up its faults. So people, who all too often never look past the surface, choose the organizations which cover things up.
In the UK the welfare authorities have failed for at least the last 60 years and probably a lot longer to support children taken into care.
The result is that around 2/3rds of all males and around 50% of all females end up in a life of crime and prison where they form up to 1/3rd of the incarcerated population.
You’d imagine that it has to be cheaper in terms of cost to fund parentless child/young adult care properly and a damn sight more humane, not to mention the reduction in crime impact on everyone else.
Written into those 60 years or so are abject failures to deal with abuse of all types, lack of training and opportunity, lack of moral support and just about every other failure you can mention - and this in turn feeds into more underage pregnancy, more children going into care, more suicide and more drug use - its a self fuelling issue.
So whilst Ireland might well be a Catholic dogma issue, its really all about institutions, short term economics and sheer inhumanity of those in power to those at the margins of society.
It is vitally important which pocket the money comes from. The punishment pocket is orders of magnitude deeper than the prevention pocket.
I think it’s more of an issue of when the money is paid.
Setting up a child care system for children who exist right now is an expense that the current politicians in power will have to pay for. Putting neglected children in the prison system when they are grown up in fifteen years may cost more but it’s an expense for some future politicians.