A new report says the Health Service Executive failed to provide timely support to a young girl following allegations of sexual abuse.

The Ombudsman for Children also says the HSE did not offer therapeutic services to the girl, who was then aged 11, for a protracted period of time.

Record keeping was found to be poor - the HSE failed to allocate a social worker - and did not arrange an early face-to-face meeting.

Emily Logan's office launched an investigation into the case - after the girl's mother made a complaint on behalf of her daughter in 2009.

The Ombudsman says the young girl was failed by the HSE - because of a poor relationship with the child's mother: