Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"in expressing its deepest concern at the circumstances surrounding the case of incest, severe child abuse and neglect involving six children heard before Roscommon Circuit Court last week:

welcomes the HSE's setting up of an independent inquiry into these appalling events to:

examine the entire management of the case from a care perspective;

identify any shortcomings-deficits in the care management process; and

make a report on the findings and learning arising from the investigation;

acknowledges the extremely difficult and complex work carried out by HSE staff in the area of child protection in particular;

recognises the HSE's work to reform child and family services which includes commitments to:

put in place national standards relating to social work and its practice; and

work with the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to advance social work practice and organisational reform in the context of the Government's overall policy for children's services — the 'Agenda for Children Services';

acknowledges the steps being taken by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in co-ordinating and leading policy development and actions to bring about improvements in the delivery of services for children within its specific policy remit and across the public service;

commends investments in the provision of services for children which have been made by recent Governments since 1997; and

commends the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, chaired by Mrs. Mary O'Rourke, T.D., and, in particular, the recommendation included in the committee's interim report of 11 September 2008 with regard to the preparation and publication of legislation to give legal authority for the collection and exchange of information concerning the risk or the occurrence of endangerment, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of children."

I welcome the opportunity provided by this debate to reflect on the very important issue of child welfare and protection services, which is a subject of concern not only to the House, but to the whole country.

In the first instance, I put on record that the provision of appropriate, robust and responsive child welfare and protection services is a key priority for both me, as Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, and the Government. The substantial media coverage of this area in the past year, most recently in the case of the recent appalling case heard before Roscommon Circuit Court last week, has provoked a public debate concerning these important issues during which voice has been given to a number of legitimate concerns, especially in the area of service provision. It would, however, be remiss to isolate the issue of service provision in this regard. While I would not suggest that the State can absolve itself of responsibility in any circumstances, an equally key consideration in the area of child welfare and protection is that of wider societal responsibility. It is the responsibility of each and every individual in Ireland to play their part in protecting our children from harm. Without such vigilance on the part of every sector of society, we risk placing all responsibility on our child welfare and protection services. Child welfare and protection is a major concern for everyone in society, not only those individuals who work in these services. This message must be sent out clearly from all sides of this House.

I wish to share time with the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Máire Hoctor.

Everyone in the House will be familiar with the horrific case of incest, sexual abuse and child abuse heard before Roscommon Circuit Court last week. I wish to express my absolute shock and revulsion at the circumstances surrounding this case, which involved perhaps the most serious form of any abuse, that of a mother against her own children. It is critical that we move quickly to find out what exactly happened in this case and why it happened. The children at the centre of this case were undoubtedly failed by society on this occasion and the lessons of what went wrong must be learnt. The sentence handed down in the case by Judge Miriam Reynolds was the maximum that could be imposed under the act. It was thought inconceivable in 1908 that a mother could inflict such suffering on her own child and hence the difference in sentencing between a mother and father.

Immediately upon becoming aware of this case, I contacted the Health Service Executive which undertook to provide me with a report on the matter within 48 hours. In particular, I asked the HSE to provide a chronology of contact and interventions with the family and a full account of the approach taken in pursuance of the child care order and the legal issues surrounding the High Court injunction. The HSE informed me that this particular case was extremely complex and difficult in nature. The Western Health Board and, in more recent times, the HSE had been, and continues to be, directly involved with the family and that support remains in place. The members of the family who are under 18 years of age have been in the care of the HSE since late 2004 under care orders granted by the courts. Notwithstanding this ongoing contact with the family involved, the HSE further informed me that a preliminary investigation was under way, the results of which I received last Saturday afternoon.

The review was carried out by a senior HSE manager from outside County Roscommon and on the basis of the findings of the review the HSE, on Saturday last, 24 January 2009, confirmed that it is to undertake a detailed investigation into the events surrounding this case. The investigation team will be independently chaired by Ms Norah Gibbons, director of advocacy with Barnardos. The other members of the investigation team are Ms Leonie Lunny, the former chief executive of the Citizens Information Board, Mr. Paul Harrison, a national child care specialist with the HSE, and Mr. Gerry O'Neill, the HSE's national manager with specialist child care responsibility.

The independently chaired investigation team will examine the entire management of the case from a care perspective with a view to identifying any shortcomings or deficits in the care management process and to make a report on the findings and learning arising from their investigation. The investigation is expected to be complete within six months and the HSE has stated its intention to publish the report in full, taking into consideration important issues around natural justice and the sensitivities of the case. The HSE has informed me that it is fully committed to ensuring that all learning and all actions considered necessary following the completion of this investigation will happen in an expedient and appropriate manner.

The comments by the HSE's national director of primary, continuing and community care to the media have indicated that the HSE is determined to fully establish what "we did not do, how were we wrong and where things should have been done better". In this regard, far from not learning the lessons spelt out by previous reports into other tragic cases, as has been suggested, these feed into the constant development and updating of policy in this area. That will also be the case with the findings of this new investigation. This learning has been given practical effect through the publication of the children first guidelines, the establishment of both the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and the implementation of the Children's Act 2001.

Several questions have been raised in recent days about the independence of the investigating team. I have had the opportunity to meet with Ms Gibbons, the independent chair of the investigating team, on several occasions since becoming the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, and I can state without reservation that I have every confidence in her professionalism and integrity to deliver a comprehensive report which will point out the learning that is required. In carrying out the investigation, I am certain that she will ensure that no stone is left unturned in the team's search for the full facts in this matter. As regards the HSE representation on the group, I note and welcome the public comments by Mr. Fergus Finlay of Barnardos, who stated his view on RTE radio last Friday that he did not believe there could be any possible vested interest in covering up the truth, and that he would be astonished if either of the HSE's representatives on the group had the remotest interest in any kind of cover up. Having met Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Harrison on several occasions since taking up office, I fully endorse these remarks.

I welcome the announcement today by the Irish Association of Young People in Care of its support of the investigation and its independence. I look forward to reviewing the findings of the review group. I reiterate that it is a HSE-commissioned review and that I, as the Minister with responsibility in this matter, and the Government, retain the right to carry out any further investigations deemed necessary in this case. I will keep this position under review.

To conclude my remarks on this case, under the Childcare Act 1991, one must protect the details relating to children arising from a case involving a care order. In terms of public debate, this constraint means that the circumstances surrounding the criminal trial are known, but nothing can be revealed about HSE care orders. I also understand that further criminal charges in respect of the family circumstances surrounding this case are pending and therefore sub judice.

One cannot, however, consider an individual child welfare case outside the wider context of child welfare and protection issues. In this regard, I take the opportunity provided by this debate to reflect on some of the important steps driving reform in this area. In recent years, we have seen a period of major investment in child care and family support services to enable an appropriate response to child welfare concerns. To this end, more than €240 million of Government funds have been added to the annual investment in child care services since 1997.

In addition, a significant number of additional social work posts have been created since 2004, culminating in the recent recruitment process undertaken by the HSE, which was the first social work recruitment process undertaken on a national basis. There has also been an increase in funding of family support services of 79%, from €45.7 million in 2003 to €81.8 million in 2008. As regards the issue of emergency cases arising outside normal working hours, the HSE has recently put a system in place which provides for access by the Garda to strategically placed foster carers nationwide, where emergency placement is required for children out of hours. Foster families are currently being recruited for this service. Initiatives such as those I have mentioned, as well as others such as the prevention and early intervention programme for children and the establishment of the children's services committees, reflect the commitment of the Government and the HSE to the ongoing implementation of the national children's strategy and, most recently, the agenda for children's services.

The HSE has made and continues to make significant advances in many areas of children's services. For example, in respect of special care and high support, that is, dealing with the neediest children in HSE care, there now is a well-managed national approach in operation. Further initiatives are under way in the HSE to make residential care services more efficient and effective and to enhance foster care services available by way of highly supported multidimensional foster care. This will enable more difficult cases to be maintained in the community, which is where I wish to see the delivery of more services with the appropriate supports.

The core principle underpinning all of these reforms and additional funding is to provide children and young people with the highest possible quality of care and to provide services to protect them, as far as possible, from all forms of harm. Since taking up office as Minister of State, in all my contacts I have stressed the priority which both the Government and I place on the need to provide appropriate services to some of the most vulnerable young members of our society. In this regard, my aim is improvements in child welfare and protection services based on appropriate standards for Ireland. I realise this goal will present many significant challenges in areas such as resources and service reform. To further advance this aim, I have initiated a series of regular meetings on child welfare and protection issues between senior officials of the HSE and my office at which issues such as service reform and modernisation, including out of hours service provision, as well as any necessary legislative reform, are and will be discussed to drive change and monitor actions for the improvement of child welfare and protection services.

With the recent transition from the historical organisation boundaries of the health boards to the new HSE structure and with the establishment three years ago of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, inadequacies have been highlighted with the flow of information and knowledge within and across organisational boundaries and particularly in respect of the complex area of child welfare and protection.

See this speech in context