Dr. Niall Muldoon:

Deputy Robert Troy referred to staffing. In the first week or two after I took office, I sent a staffing proposal to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It has since been signed off on and forwarded to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I am under the impression that the matter will be dealt with relatively quickly from here on in, but it has taken some time even to reach this point. This is an example of where independence might have made a difference. If I had control of the budget, I would have advertised six months ago as opposed to being obliged to wait for a further three months, when clearance had been received from the relevant Department, to finally appoint staff. If we had budgetary independence, we would not be in this position.

In the context of what Deputy Sandra McLellan stated, we are maintaining our output as best we can. Obviously, there has been a slowdown in the rate of our activity. Assuming we can get people in place before September, I do not see a major loss of productivity on our side. There will probably be some loss of productivity, but it will not be major. From my point of view, this is what happens in organisations when an upturn occurs and people have the opportunity to change direction in their careers. That is fantastic for them and casts the office in a great light because its staff are moving on to different jobs. The point, however, is that, in the context of flexibility and speed, we are encountering difficulties in filling their positions. If we had our own budget and the ability to hire people independently, it would make a huge difference.

Deputy Robert Troy referred to the doubling of the number of people living in constant poverty and the lack of housing. Poverty has so many facets. As I stated in my opening contribution, this is a matter on which I need to reflect in considering how best I might bring my powers to bear in dealing with homelessness and children. When I have done so, I will return to the committee with suggestions as to changes which might prove useful. There are so many strands to child poverty. Obviously, housing and the availability of options are key once somebody becomes homeless. There is also the aspect of prevention. I mentioned the economic environment and the upturn for a particular reason.

There probably was a way of preventing those approximately 400 families with 1,000 children from becoming homeless, a way of going upstream and preventing them from having to leave their homes. I am not going to give the committee an answer on an issue upon which I am not clear yet but it is certainly something that I will work on over the next number of months and bring back to the committee the next time I am here, if that is acceptable.

A question was asked about the right of a child to his or her identity. We are on the record as being clear that this is an issue which is very important. The right to one's own identity is a human right and we have recommended that consistently over time. There has been no change in that regard and I commend the Senator on bringing forward the relevant legislation.

Regarding the referendum on children's rights, one of the recommendations we will be making to the UN CRC is that adequate resources are made available to Tusla. We were one of the first to call for the responsibility for child protection and welfare to be moved out of the HSE because it was getting lost in that huge monolith. The setting up of Tusla was hugely important as far as the Ombudsman for Children's office is concerned. The same is true of the setting up of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Now that we have a focus on children, we need to provide adequate resources, although I am not sure what the correct amount actually is. While resources are an important element, there are also systems problems that need to be fixed. There are areas where there is a lack of co-ordination and consistency across the country. The last time we appeared before this committee we brought forward a meta-analysis relating to children in care. We spoke about issues like the standardisation of reports and social work supervision, for example, as well as the need for co-operation between agencies. These are consistent themes and the problems seem to be harder to fix than was the case in the past. As Tusla finds its feet, it is very important that it is supported and that the required systems are put in place. Obviously we are very concerned about recent reports regarding Laois-Offaly. The issues raised by those reports have been raised by us previously.

One of the issues we have highlighted with Tusla directly is our concern around the numbers of children who are referred for suspected abuse and who undergo an assessment. The target is that such children would see somebody within 21 days of a referral. However, the figures from quarter three of last year show that only 21% of such children were seen in that timeframe, which leaves a lot of children in a very vulnerable position. That is an issue of major concern for us and is something which can be improved upon through systems changes.

On the issue of youth mental health services, the phrase "disjointed and un-co-ordinated" was used, which is a good description of some parts of it. Senator van Turnhout spoke about access to the system and the pathways being difficult. She referenced a number of voluntary services, including Console, Pieta House, It's Good 2 Talk and so forth which are certainly making a huge difference and are the community's answer to a real problem. As I said in my report, local communities and society in general, to their great credit, are starting to open up the discussion around mental health. The more we do that, the better. There are also national offices working in this area, including the National Suicide Prevention Office and the national mental health division within the HSE. I hope that the latter will make a difference in the co-ordination of the work. It should not be the case that primary services are provided through the voluntary sector. While organisations such as Pieta House and others do great work, they are picking up the slack for services that should be provided by the State.

Our report, entitled A Word from the Wise, gives a very clear description of the problems in the area of mental health. One of our complainants, a young girl, was admitted to an adult mental health facility after two suicide attempts. She said: "I was being watched 24/7... I couldn't shower or go to the toilet by myself... I felt I was let down... I needed help and it wasn't there." This child tried to commit suicide twice but the best we could offer her was somebody to watch her so that she did not commit suicide in the adult ward. She was not provided with care, therapy or education, which should not be allowed. She went on to say: "I had a terrible experience and other teenagers shouldn't have to go through it." The most valuable point she makes is the following: "I have a lot to say for myself in the world and about the world. I just wish the right people had listened at the right time." We really need to be listening to the people who are suffering and to adjust the system accordingly. It cannot be just about resources; much of it is about how we do things and how we provide services. If we put the best interests of the child first, we would probably set things up differently. Youth mental health is an area around which I will be pushing very strongly.

I hope I have covered all of the issues raised.