Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Legislation provides potential for civil action. A professional is legally bound by legislation to make a report. Where this does not happen, the professional is subject to disciplinary procedures. In regard to the legislation, what I wanted was a reasonable and proportionate approach. In the course of the ongoing discussions about the Bill, it was decided that criminal sanctions were not the way to proceed because we did not want over reporting or defensive reporting, which would narrow what would be reported. Had we provided for criminal sanctions we would have had to provide for criminal defences. Where this is done, this results in a narrow focus and, often, over-reporting. The legislation would have been much narrower than the comprehensive legislation now published. The Children First legislation must be viewed in conjunction with the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information about Offences against Children or Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the Natural Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. For example, under the section in the Children First legislation which deals with vetting, the agency can report to the National Vetting Bureau. If the agency decides that somebody has not reported, which person is a mandated person who should have reported, this is taken on board by the vetting bureau. This has implications for people's future employment. That is a serious sanction that is built into the legislation.

I have reviewed international work in this area. New South Wales recently removed the criminal sanction provided for in its legislation in this area, which legislation is similar to ours. It removed that sanction because it was felt it was not effective. It is worth noting in terms of world wide literature regarding reporting that few cases from a criminal point of view are taken. This has happened only occasionally in Canada. The main impact of the Children First legislation is the moral, administrative and legislative pressure on professionals to report. We can tease this out further on Committee Stage. I wanted the best possible legislation to deliver the best protection for children. Much time was spent on drafting this legislation, in respect of which I received much criticism. However, this was to ensure that these important issues were teased out. At the end of the day, I believe what is provided for is reasonable and proportionate. The sanctions provided for in the legislation, in terms of the four areas outlined, will serve us better than would going down the criminal route. They are based on examinations of what happens elsewhere and on whether criminal sanctions would work in terms of professionals reporting. We made the decision as provided for in the legislation as published.

The registered bodies, fitness to practice, disciplinary hearings and so on are available options, as is employer action, which is very important. Where a person who is a mandated person, be that person a nurse, paediatrician, GP, Garda and so on, has knowledge of serious abuse and fails to report it, this will have serious employment implications for him or her. That is important. We did not want to over-burden the system with defensive reporting, thereby diverting resources from well-founded reports. The reason we focused on the professionals is because the research indicates that the best substantiation in terms of reporting comes from the professionals outlined. In terms of protecting children, if one mandates professionals to report, this provides the best opportunity of getting at the most at risk children. Professionals are the best people to identify children at risk. We have also learned from other reports that where professionals do not work together and do not carry out proper risk assessments, outcomes are not good. I hope I have provided members with some indication of the thinking on this issue. The legislation will come before the Dáil after Easter and will then progress to committee, on which occasions we will have an opportunity to discuss this matter further.

On Deputy Troy's question regarding registration, from 1 January last all new services are required to register. I will ask the agency to respond directly to the Deputy. If he has information about services that are not registered and provides me with the details, I will follow up on the matter.

New forms and processes will be introduced during May. Registration will take longer than indicated in the previous notification. It is a more thorough process based on ensuring better standards.

On the question about inspection, eight new inspectors have been appointed. Some of the money I secured in the budget was for the appointment of new inspectors; therefore, I am pleased that there are eight new appointments. Obviously, it took longer than I would have liked, but they are in place. However, there is still pressure in urban areas and there will be ongoing recruitment. The standards will be published in May and the agency is working with the sector on their introduction and guidance for providers has been developed. Inspections against the standards will commence after they have been launched, but the agency will support providers to understand and implement what is expected.

I answered the question about affordability previously. On the Deputy's point that the report of the Irish League of Credit Unions this morning states parents are spending more, the point is that as more parents are returning to work, child care costs are becoming a factor again. We are aware of this. We are maintaining the universal preschool year, which is very important, and spending €9 million this year on community employment schemes. We are reviewing the two schemes in place to see if we can deal with some of the affordability issues in order that more parents can access them.

With regard to the adoption and tracing legislation, I will bring it to the committee as soon as I can. The Deputy spoke about the right to identity, but there is a right to privacy also. As I spelled out in some recent replies to parliamentary questions, I am seeking in the legislation to ensure we will have as wide a right to access to records as is possible under the Constitution. We will ensure, for example, that there is access if a parent is deceased. We will ensure that where there is consent, systems are put in place that will make it easier for the adopted person and the biological mother to find each other. The approach has been very passive to date and must be more active, but that will require resources, which is a significant issue. Many resources are required for that type of service to develop. We will ensure that if there are special circumstances, the legislation will provide for the right of a person to go to the courts to seek information.

In cases where the birth mother has said she does not wish to have contact, unlike other countries, Ireland has a constitution and the constitutional right to privacy is well articulated. If there is an absolute refusal, it is very hard for a person to overcome it under Irish law. That is the reality. However, with a more active approach and encouraging people to sign the contact register, I hope that group will be a minority. Much of the difficulty has been due to problems with access to records and a very passive approach to the issue in the past.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin also asked about Children First. I hope I have given an indication in that regard. He also asked about the evidence on quality in child care. One of the points that should be made - this refers to the question asked by Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor regarding what she sees at local level - is that the responsibility is from the bottom up. Providers and Early Childhood Ireland are doing a huge amount of work in developing quality. I have met many providers in the past few weeks and huge efforts are being made by them. They are concerned to ensure quality standards. They have held various conferences and many of them are implementing Síolta and Aistear. I recently attended in St. Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra a very good showcase of quality work being done by providers around the country. Huge efforts are being made by providers. One also sees in the take-up of the new learner scheme for those who wish to obtain qualifications that the individual workers are very motivated. The cumulative effect of all of these actions, including the ones we are taking as a Government, will lead to improved quality.

There is no good baseline information available on quality in services. That is true in most European countries. In the past the focus at EU level was on structure, but now there is much discussion about examining quality. The Deputy is right to raise the issue and we must continually be alert to it. There is scope for more research and I intend to ask my Department to examine in its research programme if we can put some resources into it in respect of ensuring quality standards.

The Deputy raised the issue of public health nurses. The training of public health nurses is very strong in the area of child development. They have key skills, but I agree that there should be a broader set of skills. There are some human resources issues that must be addressed because there is a Labour Relations Commission ruling on who can be an inspector. However, I am anxious to include a broader group of professionals in inspections. I have also asked the Minister for Education and Skills to support the work of my Department in developing inspection processes focusing more on education. To take up Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor's point about inappropriate work with children, we wish to ensure the right work is done with children under four and five years of age and that they are not being forced into educational work that is not appropriate for children of that age, rather than into the broader opportunities presented by play and development.

The Deputy asked a number of questions about vetting. I will give the most up-to-date information I have available which has been confirmed to me by people I have met in recent weeks from the child care sector. The waiting time in having vetting applications processed has been reduced from 15 weeks in September 2013 to five weeks in April 2014. An extra 40 staff have been deployed by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, and there has been a huge improvement. Previously, extra staff were deployed and the waiting lists were reduced, but they built up again. Amendments are being made to the legislation on foot of a recent judgment in the UK Court of Appeal. The Minister intends to commence the vetting Act in the autumn. In the meantime, vetting continues to be carried out on an administrative basis.

There were a number of questions about India and inter-country adoption-----