James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Henry and Deputy Catherine Byrne for their comments and I agree with them. While we must focus on children in care, my Department is to protect all children in the State and ensure they all get the best care during their childhoods and the best outcomes we can create. Many of these matters cut across public health issues, for example we do not want children smoking or drinking alcohol, we want them to be conscious of the value of being physically active and aware of their weight, without being consumed by it. We know there are issues on both end of the spectrum for which we need to watch out.

Deputy Catherine Byrne asked about question No. 20 and the number of staff who participate in training, and I will let the Secretary General answer. I am a great supporter of a second pre-school year, as is the Tánaiste. However, we must check the quality of what we deliver now before we extend it. This is not a way of delaying it; we just need to assure ourselves we are spending the money in the right way and getting the outcomes we need.

Deputy Daly mentioned the challenge, with which I concur completely, and the appalling treatment some children have had in care in the past and that we must learn from it and ensure we do not repeat the mistakes, which has been a recurring theme in many parts of our public services. I understand the Deputy's point about the 400 social workers who applied for registration, have not been registered but are still working in their roles. I will get a report on it because it is critically important. The Deputy's other point is equally important, regarding how we process complaints and how people get satisfaction. In my previous Department, we discussed a patient safety agency, which is being established on an administrative basis. We will need some mechanism that will give people the comfort that they can make a complaint and get a resolution quickly, and that if they are not happy with the resolution being presented by the local agency, there is a national, more independent mechanism for addressing the situation.

I want to reassure the Deputy that we consider the issue of identity and tracing to be urgent. This is not a ploy to delay it but a mechanism to accelerate the legislation. The Department has done much work already on it and the Deputy will be able to take me to task if it does not come through, because it is a priority, as do others in government. While it is for the Government to make the final decision on the commission issue, and I do not want to pre-empt it, it would be beneficial to have an international presence on it. To do it, I would want to talk to Judge Murphy and get a Government decision.

While I understand Deputy McLellan's disappointment about the terms of reference, it is better done right than rushed. The last thing we need is a ten-year tribunal to the frustration of many of the people involved and enormous cost to the taxpayer. This is not an excuse for trying to close down the areas that must be investigated. There is no point in having the commission if we leave whole rafts of people no wiser than when we started and feeling excluded. It will not work. Mechanisms will have to be found to make it as inclusive as possible and fit for purpose. The Deputy also mentioned the ratios around 1:11 for children and the same applied to those with disabilities and special needs. A working group from my Department and the Departments of Health and Education and Skills is examining it. Wearing a previous hat, we were the first to put a civil servant at principal officer level across the three Departments to examine such issues.

I hear what Deputy Timmins said about the right of a child to know versus the right of privacy, which Deputy Daly also raised. While I do not consider myself in any position to make judgments on it, I know the issues and we will do our best. If we can come to another solution for those who are in the situation it will be all to the benefit. We will examine it and will get the best legal advice we can with a view to being proactive and trying to resolve the issue, not as an excuse for doing nothing and leaving matters as they are.

I could not agree more with the Deputy on Oberstown and early intervention for learning difficulties. There is a serious issue regarding children with dyslexia and other learning issues such as attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, ADDH. They end up in trouble and are sent down the wrong road instead of receiving the support and help they need. I will examine other centres, which the Department has already done. I worked in Oberstown as a visiting doctor for several years, and things have moved on there in terms of the care they give and the normalisation of life they try to bring for children, educating them and keeping them in school. There is another initiative in the Department around community programmes, which are aimed at supporting children to get on in their own schools and communities and preventing them ending up in institutions of care such as Oberstown.

We would all like the national children's hospital built as expeditiously as possible. I was talking to the Minister for Health about it last night. We will continue to raise concerns and there will be ongoing input and support from my Department to the Minister for Health.

It is the remit of the Minister for Health and it is his project to deliver.