Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I join in the welcome to each of the witnesses this afternoon and will take some of the points made across each presentation. I absolutely agree with the statement from Mr. Toby Wolfe in his submission circulated to members before this meeting. It stated the creation of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in 2011 was very welcome and has given impetus to the development of a series of children's strategies in addition to the children's referendum. While I agree absolutely, I am deeply concerned and have raised the following point many times with the Minister, whom I hold in high regard, as have other voices. It is that all of these wonderful things Members have helped to establish, because it has been done on an all-party basis, will not reach their real potential without proper resourcing and nowhere is such investment more important than in all our children.

I have a couple of comments and questions to ask. I refer to the three current sites operating the prevention and early intervention programme, namely, Young Ballymun, from which I believe representatives will be appearing before the joint committee shortly, Preparing for Life and the Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative. As I understand that three further sites have been signalled, have the witnesses received an indication as to where they might be? Members have received no signal in this regard. Each of them has been a marked success and each represents a home grown and home measured template that can be usefully applied. One would wish it will not simply increase from three sites to six but that many others will follow suit. Mr. Wolfe might comment further on this particular area, which goes on to the points made by Ms June Tinsley and Ms Suzanne Connolly of Barnardos.

This is where a little bit of discomfort is created in the committee, because members obviously are drawn from the Government and Opposition benches and have their respective positions in argument on various Government decisions within the Dáil Chamber. I try to avoid this in this forum because I appreciate that all members seek to get the best results for people with regard to health and children's needs. However, it is inescapable and I cannot address the witnesses today without stating that for me, the evidence of real hurt and pain in young faces arises as a direct consequence of austerity and a series of budgetary decisions that have had a great impact on children. I am a father of five and this presents itself in the most innocent way. A child would never think that he or she has not seen Patrick, Seán or Mary at swimming classes over the past month or that someone else has not been seen at music or drama classes. While children still attend school, these are the areas in which the opportunities for young lives today are being curtailed. Moreover, it is not being measured because it is huge.

This worries and concerns me greatly and in respect of Mr. Stuart Duffin's position, while they are not all from lone families, and far from it, a great number of them are. These are the real people with whom I live in my own community. I see this week in, week out, when I am not attending this institution but am living out there, as do ordinary decent people. I am greatly concerned that although members are making all the right decisions regarding structure address, without the necessary wherewithal, the real and critical difference that must be made will not be achieved. This worries me greatly and while I do not need to instance the various measures that have had an impact, child benefit jumps out at one straight away in respect of budget 2013, and there is any number of other areas. Members can welcome the establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs but the real hurt and pain is being effected across the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Social Protection. Children are being affected in the budgetary decisions that are being made regarding all these and several other Departments. I can pass no better comment at present than to say this must stop. There must be a reversal of these decisions as quickly as possible, in the realisation that all that is being done is investing in childhood misery and real issues that will present in future years.