Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

The Department will pass that test because I am committed to the provision of quality aftercare service. I mentioned how critical I believe it is and section 45, the aftercare provision, will be examined to see if there is merit in making regulations to make clear that children who require aftercare get the service they need. The legal advice is that there is an obligation on the HSE to provide the aftercare service under section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991. It is non-discretionary and my Department has been in contact with the HSE to make that absolutely clear. This is not a discretionary service but one the HSE must provide if there is a need for assistance and if the HSE forms a view to provide services in accordance with the section, subject to resources as it always will be. The Department has made it clear to the HSE on a number of occasions that an appropriate aftercare service must be developed.

A national aftercare policy is being developed by the HSE in co-operation with the stakeholders in this area. We are determined that there will be consistency. An aftercare implementation group is also working on this, with representatives of some of the organisations mentioned by Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and from the organisation that represents young people who have been in care. Some ten additional after care posts are in the process of being filled. The contracts will include a need for flexible hours. The legal advice is that the provision of aftercare under section 45 is legally sound but I will monitor the implementation of it and, if necessary, I will introduce regulations to spell out what is implied by the legislation, as has been done in the north of Ireland. My Department will work on this and, when we introduce the new legislation to establish the child and family support agency, this is an area I will examine.

We need time to bring together practice and experience around the country in respect of aftercare. I need more information on what is happening but there is a legal obligation for young people who need aftercare. There has not been enough focus on this area and the importance of ongoing services and support to a young person brought up in residential care is underestimated. Young people who have been in residential care are often very vulnerable. There have been dreadful instances of young people left to fend for themselves. It is very frightening and challenging for them. I listened to these young people telling the story of what happened to them. That did not happen in a State that respects the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I was struck by the Ombudsman's report on this issue. She referred to the UN guidelines on the alternative care of children and the systematic way the State should approach helping young people who have been in care to plan for life after care. It refers to the standards and that the process of transition from care to aftercare should take into consideration the child's gender, age, maturity and particular circumstances and that it should include counselling and support, notably to avoid exploitation. It states that children leaving care should be encouraged to take part in the planning of after care life, that children with special needs need particular help and so on. There is a way that aftercare should be prepared for and implemented and every child who has been in care should have their needs for aftercare properly assessed during the course of their period in care and coming up to the time when the care period, from a legal point of view, is over. I have no problem examining whether we need regulations but the legal advice is that there is a statutory obligation on the Health Service Executive to provide this type of service.

There are practice issues. I want to examine the practice throughout the country, bring the report of that together and determine if statute and regulations would help to ensure that what exists in law is being implemented for children who are leaving care.

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