Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Muldoon who will find that we are exemplary as a committee on children's rights. We very much work together on an all-party basis on many children's rights issues. I hope he will find friends here. The only thing we will do is urge him to go further and to highlight more. It would be good for us to have more regular engagement in order for us to highlight issues. Even the fact of having the meeting keeps children's rights on the agenda, which is really important.

I subscribe to the concern outlined by my colleagues at the delay in appointing staff. I will ask the Chairman to discuss the committee writing to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to express our view that the appointments should be expedited. Given the scarce resources in the office, we should ensure that at the very least the resources are in place. There should not be unnecessary delays.

I will make a whistlestop tour of issues and then raise some broader issues. I wish to raise direct provision. I totally agree with what was said by my colleagues. I very much believe that there should be an independent complaints mechanism and that the Office of the Ombudsman for Children needs to have that role in relation to children. I very much endorse that position.

The other issue I wish to raise is corporal punishment because it is in the news with the Council of Europe decision yesterday. Yet again, Ireland is failing. I put forward an amendment to the Children First Bill for us to remove the defence of reasonable chastisement. It is a practical way forward. It is not a case of us trying to encroach too much. I do not think we could be accused too much of nanny stateism. One hundred years ago one could beat one’s wife, one’s dog and one’s child and we still allow children to be beaten. I find that reprehensible that we allow that in our laws. I know it is not being used in the courts, to the best of my understanding, but I take issue with the fact that we leave it in our laws.

Deputy Troy raised adoption information and tracing. I welcome recommendation No. 38 of the Ombudsman for Children in his report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that he does not see a block to retrospective information and tracing. I would very much welcome his voice on that.

Homeless children is another issue that was raised. I do not believe it is just because of the recession. We accommodated children who were homeless in bed and breakfast accommodation when we were at the height of the boom. Again, it goes back to how we view children and families. In the UK, it would not be acceptable to house a family in bed and breakfast accommodation and yet in this country we seem to deem it acceptable to inappropriately accommodate children in hotels currently and previously bed and breakfast accommodation but still on a bed and breakfast basis. I very much endorse Dr. Muldoon’s sentiments in that area.

The other issue I wish to raise relates to gender recognition and recommendation No. 20 in the report. Could Dr. Muldoon review his position on gender recognition? He said it should be open to those aged under 16 but we have had some very good debates recently in the Seanad and the Dáil on children in which we urged the Government to go further on its gender recognition Bill. I cited the recommendations of the Ombudsman for Children but we should go further in light of the constitutional amendment on children now being part of the Constitution and the best interests of the child. Perhaps Dr. Muldoon could examine the position in order to find a system for children so that they can go to the schools of their choice. Why do we send someone who identifies himself as a boy to a girl’s school and make him wear a girl’s uniform? That is a real children’s rights issue. Perhaps Dr. Muldoon could review the position on gender recognition?

I very much support recommendation No. 13 on reducing the voting age to 16. Perhaps Dr. Muldoon could again consider urging the Government to amend the position for voting in European and local elections. That would not require a referendum. It could be done by the Government at any stage. Perhaps the issue could be examined.

Marriage age is another issue to consider. Senator Bacik and I tabled a motion and we are working to bring forward legislation to make the marriage age in this country 18. It is unacceptable that we have up to 30 marriages a year of children in Ireland. Once we allow exemptions we are saying it is okay, and we are saying that to other countries. What brought me to the issue was Boko Haram. We wondered what we could do when we saw those children being kidnapped and I looked at our own laws and discovered that they allow exemptions. That sends a message that it is okay in some cases to have child brides. It is important that Ireland would make the marriage age 18 and be unequivocal about it.

Mental health is another important issue. I am concerned that the child and adolescent mental health services remain outside the remit of the Child and Family Agency. I would welcome progress in that regard. Building on the point made by Deputy Troy, could Dr. Muldoon also consider the pathways for people to access the services?

More generally, I call for more engagement with the Oireachtas in regard to reports from the Ombudsman for Children. It is sometimes frustrating for us when we see a report in the newspapers and we have had no prewarning of it or knowledge that it is coming out. We would love to provide a voice of support. Perhaps Dr. Muldoon could keep us informed when he is planning to release reports.

Dr. Muldoon has immense experience in complaints and investigations. In his presentation he said that children can be largely invisible. I sometimes feel that about complaints and investigations. We need to hear more of the voice of the child. We hear very much about the perspective of the parents or the adults in the child’s life. Perhaps we could make progress in that regard.

My final question before I get cut off relates to Dr. Muldoon’s appointment with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child the week after next. He has all the recommendations in his report. If he were to pick out two or three things for the committee that this country must immediately tackle, what could be done in the time available? Whatever we say, the Government now has less than a year left in office. What should we address before the Government is before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child?