Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

With regard to the referendum, the committee has until the end of next week to provide its consensus on wording to improve the position of children in the Constitution. A decision on a date of a referendum will follow consideration of that report by the Government.

HSE powers under section 3 of the Child Care Act are very clear in terms of abuse that might occur within a family. Both the Ferns report and the Murphy commission report raised a doubt as to whether the HSE had powers in terms of extra-familial abuse, as the Deputy stated. The Attorney General at the time of the Ferns report confirmed that the HSE powers under section 3 did contemplate extra-familial abuse. Nonetheless, as the Murphy commission has raised it again, we will again clarify the point with the Attorney General.

The question of the 270 social workers is a key part of the implementation plan. There already have been appointments in 2009 and I am confident we will be able to meet the target. The Deputy stated that 6,000 children do not have a social worker, which underlines the need, which is not disputed. Where a reference is made to the HSE, all children are triaged and dealt with in terms of priority.

The Adoption Bill contemplates the idea of accredited agencies that would carry out assessments in regard to suitability for adoption. Because that can be done, it should free up social workers who are currently occupied with the issue of assessments.

See this speech in context