Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all have a very strong opinion on the alcohol sponsorship.

I fully agree with Dr. Shannon on the aftercare issue. Deputy Ó Caoláin has asked those questions. I will move to the child and family agency. The main issues that Dr. Shannon raised were alcohol, child and adolescent mental health, the role of the public health nurses and children with disabilities but none of those is foreseen in the first phase of the agency. How will we ensure that those essential services will be connected? Dr. Shannon talked about re-imagining. I remain concerned about the referral pathways for families. Given Dr. Shannon’s experience of child death reports does he have any advice? I do not see all families entering this new agency through social workers because the upstream role of public health nurses that Dr. Shannon mentioned is essential.

Given his legal background Dr. Shannon understands well the difference between “in care of the State” and “cared for by the State” but I choose to not fully comprehend it because I believe that children in direct provision are not living in a standard, normal family environment. I am very concerned about them. In his reports Dr. Shannon has written about its detrimental impact on children and has called for a report to examine that. I also wish to raise the problem of lesbian gay bisexual and transgender, LGBT, asylum-seeking children. I know that BeLonG To Youth Services, which Dr. Shannon mentioned, is doing excellent work in that area but I remain concerned about it.

Dr. Shannon spoke about transposing the EU directive on the child abuse material, which I wholeheartedly endorse. I have produced a report on the issue that Dr. Shannon supports. Ireland should have a system of filtering websites containing child abuse material.

Dr. Shannon talked about courts not being the battleground, about surrogacy and adoption. Has he been consulted on the Children and Family Relationships Bill that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence is drafting? The Minister made quite a good statement on the Bill. Dr. Shannon also mentioned the alternative dispute resolution. These will be very critical areas for our development. I endorse everything that Dr. Shannon said. In discussions on adoption all too often we hear only from the perspective of the parents. We hear about Irish parents bonding with children of foreign adoptions but these children have a right to an identity and we very often lose sight of that right. I am concerned that in drafting this legislation there should be no confusion with the rights of the adults. The rights of the children must be got right first and foremost then the rest will fit in soundly.