Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

While I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Hoctor, I wonder why, when all the questions on the Adjournment pertain to the Minister for Health and Children, she is not here herself.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to address the important issue of the need for immediate action by the Minister for Health and Children to address the crisis in child protection by appointing additional social workers and other community care and health professionals. The section is required without delay to fulfil the State's responsibility to children known by the HSE to be at serious risk of abuse or neglect, or being abused and neglected but who are receiving no assistance because of the recruitment embargo and the restrictive appointment controls.

Last night's "Prime Time Investigates" programme revealed the horrific extent of the child protection crisis in this State. Children are being abused and neglected or left at risk of abuse and neglect, even though their files are in the hands of the HSE and they are known to be in these situations. We were faced in that programme with the chilling prospect of dozens of files on children at grave risk in filing cabinets with no action being taken because there are not enough social workers to deal with the massive caseload. This is the devastating result of the cap on recruitment implemented by the HSE, for which the Government is ultimately responsible. The report confirms the repeated warnings from social workers and others working with children and for children's rights that the under-resourcing of child protection services, social work, community care, family support and psychological and therapeutic services is having terrible consequences. To make a bad situation worse, the current regime of cuts is being imposed by the HSE.

We are all too familiar with waiting lists in our health services, but the waiting list of children in need of immediate intervention in crisis situations must surely be the worst. It is appalling that there are waiting lists of more than a year for access to child mental health services and family support services. The Irish Association of Social Workers, IASW, stated that its members are concerned, angered and frustrated that the right of children to effective protection and community care is being infringed. On many occasions it has warned that children are at huge risk because of HSE failures. The association said the programme drew attention to the realities faced by social workers and families attempting to access social work services.

Many social workers experience stress, burn-out and exhaustion as they struggle to respond to an ever-increasing need with inadequate resources. I join the association in its call on the Government and the HSE to act immediately to lift the current employment controls on social work posts and to fully resource community care social work teams throughout the country. Declan Coogan of the IASW stated:

Children at risk of abuse and neglect are among the most vulnerable group in our society, yet judging by the lack of provision of funding for community care social work services, little consideration is given to their welfare. We demand that the HSE fully resource community care social work child protection and welfare teams and fully resource community mental health services. No child should have to wait for essential social work and therapy services because someone somewhere has said there is no money. It seems that the protection of children is at the bottom of the list of priorities of those who make decisions about funding but are remote from the consequences of these decisions.

The Government cannot credibly claim that it did not know the extent of the problem as again and again it has been warned. For example, last December the Minister for Finance, now the Taoiseach, attended the launch of Barnardos' 2006 review, which stated that 91% of the children who came to Barnardos had family and relationship needs ranging from family discord to domestic violence. The response to this crisis by the new Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, on "Morning Ireland" this morning can only be described as totally inadequate. He was in automatic defence mode and he could not possibly have fully briefed himself on this crisis in the short time since he was appointed. I am also disappointed at the response of the Taoiseach in the Dáil today. Neither he nor the Minister of State treated the matter with the sense of urgency that is required. They seemed not to recognise the justifiable outrage among people throughout the country that the most vulnerable of children in our society are being let down in such an appalling manner.

I urge the Minister of State strongly to take immediate action to address the crisis to ensure that essential social workers are appointed and to ensure that those children most at risk are assisted with all possible speed.

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