Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I share with Deputy O'Sullivan the horror everybody who has read parts of the report to which she referred feels. It makes for extremely harrowing reading.

On her question on an out of hours service, 12 months ago a case came to light regarding a child that was in a Garda station overnight in Cork. At that time, many people asked why there was no service where a phone could be picked up and a child placed appropriately until social work services were available. That will be in place from next month.

It does not mean a child will be placed in ordinary foster care families, rather, he or she will be placed in specially trained foster facilities until social work services are available. They will be very short placements and it is not intended that such placements, made under section 12 of the 1991 Act, would last for more than two or three days before normal working hours resume.

The Deputy also asked if we could be satisfied that these events will never happen again. Anybody will agree that the circumstances which pertained in the 20th Century are left behind us. We have a vastly improved system of child care compared to what happened before. There are extremely dedicated staff and much better facilities. The vast majority of children in care are in foster families.

The details and recommendations of the report to which the Deputy referred underline the fact we have no cause for complacency. It is an issue and area of great sensitivity. It is emotive and we have to apply every resource, to the best of our ability, to this area.

See this speech in context