Ms Norah Gibbons:

I thank the Chairman and members of the joint committee for their welcome and for the opportunity to make this presentation to them. I am joined today by Ms Elizabeth Canavan of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Mr. Bill O'Dea of the family support agency and by Mr. Gerard McKiernan from the Health Services Executive, child and family division. All of them have been heavily involved in developing the new agency with Mr. Gordon Jeyes and others. They are happy to assist me and the committee with any detailed queries germane to their work.

The history of Ireland’s services for children has largely been written in the reports of inquiries concerned with historical abuse in institutions established to care for and educate children - institutions where children should have been safe - and with abuse in families, where children should be loved, cherished and protected. Children have a right to safety and need to have their rights protected and their needs met in all settings. The publication of each report has brought painful truths to the fore - knowledge and evidence that we have often failed our children, particularly those who, due to their circumstances, should have had first call on the resources of the State. Inquiries in other jurisdictions, most notably in the United Kingdom, have often been the catalyst for changes in child welfare and protection services and have laid the basis of much that is familiar to us in child welfare and protection in this jurisdiction. In Ireland today we are on the cusp of developing a national service, the child and family agency, dedicated to children and families. The establishment of this agency, which will align key services into a single cohesive, integrated and accountable delivery system, is a very welcome development towards modernising our child welfare and protection services.

I am greatly honoured to be proposed by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, both as chairperson of the existing Family Support Agency and as the first chairperson of the board of the child and family agency. I am committed to working with the Minister, with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, with fellow board members, with Mr. Gordon Jeyes and his staff, and with all those involved across all sectors working with children, families and communities. I want to ensure we achieve what we all want, which is an agency that is fit for purpose and delivers high-quality services for children and families in Ireland. I see this as a challenging and ambitious undertaking but one that must succeed.

All of my professional life has been spent working in the area of child and family services. When I qualified I worked in statutory social work in England for 13 years. I joined the social services as they underwent significant change and realignment on foot of the Maria Colwell inquiry in 1973. Maria died following her return to an abusive home despite evidence of her fearful reaction to contact with her mother. Work in statutory social services was busy but entirely satisfying, providing me with daily challenges but also with huge learning experiences. My responsibilities covered child welfare and protection, foster-care services, adoption, juvenile justice and guardian-ad-litem services in the courts. Services were organised generically, so I gained experience in mental health as well as with services for older people.

I have probably been through the entire life cycle in my professional work.

On my return to Ireland in 1989, I initially worked in a centre for the unemployed. I became engaged in community work in a disadvantaged area. I saw at first hand the power of solid local communities to build resilience despite a challenging economic backdrop. Children live in families and families live in communities.

I worked with Barnardos from 1990 until August 2012, during which time I had a wide range of responsibilities at different management levels. I was seconded to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse as a full member from 2000 to 2005 and as an ongoing board member until the Ryan report was published in 2009. I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the bravery, understanding and consideration for others of those witnesses who told the commission of their painful and personal life experiences. It was a humbling experience for me and the lessons from that time will always be with me.

A key area of work for me in Barnardos that is germane to my current position was the development of targeted family support services in conjunction with the then health boards in the late 1990s. The rationale for those services was to work with children whose needs were not being met and where a concentrated programme of work with the child in the context of his or her family could hopefully avoid admission to the care system. I am convinced of the need for support for families at all levels and I applaud the firm bedrock represented by the 106 family resource centres developed by the Family Support Agency. This coincides with the new agency. Through strategic partnerships with other key providers across the voluntary and community sectors, the new agency will be better placed than at any other time to offer real support to children and families in their own localities in a way that is open and inviting and links with other services as the needs of children and families dictate.

In addition to my work in establishing and chairing the confidential committee of the child abuse commission between 2000 and 2005, I chaired the inquiry into the Roscommon child care case that reported in 2010. That report brought attention to the key issue of neglect, the impact that abuse of alcohol has on parenting and the consequences for children if steps are not taken to recognise and react proportionately in situations of chronic neglect. Most of the report's recommendations are closely aligned with the needs audit on neglect that was published recently.

Like the 2012 independent child death review that I co-chaired with Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, the Roscommon report highlighted that children were missing out on effective prevention and early intervention services and that, too often, problems in families were not being tackled effectively until crises hit, at which point services were often ineffective. A noticeable issue in many of the cases that I reviewed was non-attendance at school. This is often a signal that something is going wrong at home or at school. It must be identified and remedied if we are to help children. I welcome the integration of the National Education Welfare Board, NEWB, with the new child and family agency, bringing with it the expertise that it has built up.

The new agency will also have responsibility for preschool inspection services, domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services and services related to the psychological welfare of children. Some or all of these service issues arise where child neglect or abuse is also an issue.

No amount of situating services together would make any difference if that was all we did. I was pleased to have been appointed as a member of the task force that reported to the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, in July 2012 on the establishment of the new agency. The task force was working at a time when there were findings from many recent reports. It was noted that the fragmentation and silos that can exist in services were the systemic cause of the failure to meet children's needs. The task force's vision for a quality Irish childhood emphasised that children should feel nurtured, protected, safe, listened to and cared for. It also stressed that, for these good things to happen, society needed to invest in preparing and supporting parents in their parenting and caring roles.

The task force correctly identified that we had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform children's services fundamentally. The need to bring together primary intervention, early intervention, family support and therapeutic care interventions was clearly outlined. This broad scope of services is in line with international evidence and is what children in Ireland require and should have.

I am pleased that the legislation to establish the child and family agency is before the Oireachtas. The agency's establishment is an ambitious undertaking. The Bill sets out a strong framework of public accountability, with the Minister establishing the policy objectives for the agency and the agency, through its board, being responsible to the Minister for its performance. It involves the bringing together of more than 4,000 staff and a budget of more than €570 million from three existing bodies to be led by a single management team. I look forward to seeing the Bill's progress through the Houses.

The leadership for the agency is almost fully in place under the stewardship of Mr. Gordon Jeyes. Senior managers were recruited by open competition and should provide the capacity and leadership that the agency requires. Each of the senior managers will have child and family services as his or her exclusive priority. This represents a major departure from previous practice whereby senior managers often had responsibility for a list of services, none of which was directly related to children or families.

Below senior management level, there is an emphasis on strong local management operating within a clear national framework. I understand that significant work has already been undertaken at an operational and logistical level to prepare for the agency's establishment. This forms part of a two-year process of change that is under way. I understand that the committee has received recent updates on these developments. A project management team is in place and is working towards the smooth transfer of responsibilities to the agency on establishment day.

The HSE will continue to provide many services to children and families. Both agencies' staffs are likely to share space, premises and clients. There is a need to ensure that no existing synergies are lost and that more opportunities for collaborative working are established as the agency moves forward.

I have a particular personal interest in ensuring that the best interests of children are central to everything the new agency does. Their voices must be heard at every stage and the focus of the agencies' work must be on outcomes for children. I want to see a model of work ensuring that, at practical level, the voice of the child is present when a file is being reviewed. With some files, we could not find information on the children's wishes, what they had said or, unfortunately, whether they had been seen alone. There must be clear evidence that every decision for a child has his or her best interests at its core. This is what they should articulate when they are asked how they experienced the staff of the agency.

As a society, we need to establish a culture of listening to children and paying attention to their voices and lived experiences. As a social worker and a member of the child abuse commission and in carrying out case reviews, I am committed to the well-being of the 6,421 children and young people in the care of the State. The vast majority are in general or relative foster care, with smaller numbers in residential care.

The decision to remove a child from his or her home can never be the first resort. Prevention, early intervention and support to families come first. However, where children's well-being and safety are at risk and interventions are not working, taking them into State care is the right decision. It is crucial that those who take over responsibility for their safety, care and development are suited to the task, safely recruited, trained and supported in carrying out that critical role.

Another specific concern relates to ensuring with the board and CEO that the agency has the necessary resources to carry out its work effectively. The number of children and young people in the State continues to grow, with more than 1.148 million individuals aged under 18 years.

Since 2002 the number of children and young people has increased by over 13%. The demand for the services of the child and family agency is increasing year on year, with 40,000 referrals last year. We need to ensure that we have the correct staff numbers and skills mix available to carry out its functions. I understand that work is now under way to map social work provision and to review the case loads of social workers. I hope to have some of those results in the autumn.

There is much work yet to be done in establishing the new agency and it must happen while the everyday work of child welfare, family support and child protection goes on. I do not underestimate the demands of the task at management and front-line levels and pay tribute to all those involved.

Children, young people and families deserve a working agency and system that supports and protects them. There is no room for complacency. Change is very difficult for all of us, but the prize - a system fit for purpose for children and families - is one worth changing for. Child care is never finished, and new issues and challenges will emerge as society develops and changes. It is important to recognise those emerging needs, to know their extent and to develop plans, services and skills to meet them. I believe that we can never give up on children because we owe them their future. I am happy to answer any questions.