Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

In the context of the motion we are discussing I noticed that the Minister of State has tabled an amendment in predictable self-congratulatory terms. One of the things he wishes us to do is to acknowledge the steps being taken by him in "co-ordinating and leading policy development and actions to bring about improvements in the delivery of services for children". I would be interested to hear the Minister of State explain why, 12 years after child protection guidelines were put in place, they are still not uniformly applied across the country. I do not know what lead role his Department is playing.

The Minister of State concludes by commending the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. I am a member of that committee, in company with Deputy Mary O'Rourke. The Minister of State commends, in particular, the recommendation included in the committee's interim report of 11 September 2008 regarding publication of legislation in respect of "the collection and exchange of information concerning the risk or the occurrence of endangerment, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of children".

In other words, the Minister welcomes and commends the committee for the publication of its report on soft information. What he failed to tell the House is that, across party lines and unanimously, the report recommended and asked Government to publish that legislation before Christmas 2008. That legislation does not even appear in the Government's programme of Bills to be published before Easter. It is in the category of "heads of Bills to be prepared". In commending the committee on another vital issue relating to child sexual abuse, the Minister and the Government have proved themselves incapable of delivering the legislation with the urgency required. They are also incapable of complying with the request made by the all-party committee which includes members of the Minister's party.

I hope that between now and tomorrow evening the Government will reconsider the need to have a truly independent investigation, with broader terms of reference. I hope the two truly independent individuals who were appointed to this committee will give further consideration to the inappropriateness of the committee's composition and that they will consider the need to change substantially its terms of reference. This is required in order to ensure that the broad range of issues be investigated, in full and properly, and that it be reported upon, as demanded by the public interest and the interests of children.

See this speech in context