Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, the limited time available to members means it is impossible to do justice to all the witnesses' respective contributions. However, I thank them, as this has been very useful. I have selected points in respect of each contribution. I thank Professor Pat Dolan for his contribution and the critical point he made regarding early intervention and prevention and the percentage of the budget that should be ascribed to that role and function. When he spoke of reticence regarding the child psychology and child and adolescent mental health services coming on board under the new agency, he has not used too strong a word to describe the position. He should elaborate a little because this issue is very important. To be frank, members are being lobbied and a continual strong case is being made not to so do. Members are only as good as all the information they have and I ask Professor Dolan to help them to answer this question by elaborating on that point. I also thank Ms Claire Dineen and Mr. Packie Kelly. I agree absolutely with Ms Dineen that family support and child welfare are two sides of the same coin. My next question is directed to both Ms Dineen and Mr. Kelly. Do they believe the Family Resource Centres National Forum has had an adequate opportunity - or any opportunity - to put its case to the Minister, to Gordon Jeyes and those who have been tasked with the preparation of the facilitating legislation, which is yet to be presented and which everyone expected well before 1 March, which falls tomorrow?

Do Ms Dineen and Mr. Kelly expect the legislation will confirm a continuation of the ethos and culture of family resource centres across the board? Do they expect that it will confirm continued representation for the national forum on the board of the new child and family support agency? I have asked the Minister this question repeatedly but I have not received the clarity I need, although she may not be in a position to offer it at this point. Can Ms Dineen and Mr. Kelly offer any further elaboration on the legislation and where they expect it to land? What would they like the legislation to say? Should we seriously consider pressing amendments on Committee Stage of the Bill?

The position of public health nurses is a bit like the position of child psychologists in the child and adolescent mental health services. They are not coming under the aegis of the new agency. I appreciate the wider remit, role and responsibility of public health nurses, which are not only focused on families and children. How can Mr. Finlay help us to present the case properly and in a balanced way? As regards the roles of public health nurses coming under the aegis of the new agency, is it beyond our collective reach that they would have dual accountability? Perhaps Mr. Finlay could elaborate on that.

I wish to acknowledge the important and imaginative programmes that Foróige has sponsored over the years. I am deeply concerned to hear of Mr. Campbell's expectation of the demise of the Big Brother Big Sister programme. Only this week I have had an inquiry in that regard. We should highlight this matter as it is only through public awareness that people will step forward. We know the situation with Atlantic Philanthropies, so others might note the importance and value of such programmes. It would be tragic if that programme, in particular, were lost. I appeal to the media to highlight it. Let us put out the request to see if anybody will step up to the plate in this regard.

As regards Ms Flaherty's contribution, the figure of 2,500 to 3,000 cases of child sexual abuse annually is a hugely worrying statistic. We do not know the full extent. Despite the best efforts of Mr. Gordon Jeyes and everyone else concerned, our current systems are clearly not fit for purpose to meet the cohort of cases that are presented.

If the full situation was to be realised, what would Ms Flaherty say we should be pressing for - apart from the statistics - to avoid a repetition of all we have witnessed in recent years regarding the exposé of past failures? Could Ms Flaherty offer particular advice on what we should be pressing for today?