Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The provision of appropriate robust and responsive child welfare and protection services remains a key priority for both myself, as Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, and the Government. The provision of these services is every bit as crucial as the delivery of critical care services and should be afforded that same priority in Health Service Executive, HSE, thinking and planning. Since children in need of the HSE's services are rarely in a position to advocate for themselves or demand better services, they have not in the past received the attention they deserve.

The past several months have seen much adverse reports on various aspects of those services provided to the most vulnerable members of society. Many of the issues are down to legacy and, on reflection, it can often seem as if the responses to the stories of abuse and neglect highlight only deficiencies and inadequacies in services.

There is a wide range of ongoing developments which I believe are improving the delivery of services and will ultimately result in better outcomes for children. The challenges should not be underestimated. There are few quick fixes and we must be honest about the job at hand. Child protection has rightly jumped up the health, political and media agenda and is closely scrutinised, a welcome catalyst for change. Further reports focusing on child protection will be the subject of parliamentary, public and media attention in the coming months. This will ensure the spotlight remains focused on the provision of children's services.

As a society, however, we must share in our responsibility of each and every individual playing their part in protecting our children from harm. However, when a member of the public, a teacher or a general practitioner reports an allegation of abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional or neglect, it must be dealt with in a timely and professional manner.

At present, there are approximately 5,700 children in the care of the State. Between relative and general foster care, in excess of 5,100 children are accommodated. This reflects the Government's commitment to ensuring that children are placed in a stable and caring family environment, allowing them to develop close bonds that nurture their emotional and physical needs. Since 2003, funding for family support services has increased by 80%, with foster care funding up by 34% and residential care funding up by 7%. The smaller increase in residential care reflects the positive steps taken to prioritise foster care placements over residential care.

The Health Service Executive budget for 2010 for children and families is €536 million. This covers a wide range of services which include family support services, child protection services, youth homelessness, registration and inspection of children's residential centres in the voluntary sector and monitoring of children's residential centres in the voluntary and statutory sectors. An additional €15 million has been made available by Government in 2010 to fund the actions specified in the Ryan commission implementation plan, to which I will refer shortly.

There are many important steps being taken to drive reform in HSE service delivery. A welcome and positive development was the appointment some months ago of an assistant national director with responsibility for children and family services. I was adamant that this dedicated post was required to allow the HSE place a strong emphasis on the area in terms of delivery. Reform is needed, and the organisation is responding to the need for a unified vision and standardised practices. To build confidence among the families using these services and health professionals, these initiatives need to be rolled out nationally. I personally chair regular meetings with the assistant national director and his team to monitor all actions for the improvement of child welfare and protection services. The allocation and reallocation of resources or re-assignment of priorities can present industrial relations and other infrastructural difficulties, which must be dealt with sensitively.

As Members will be aware, last year the Government accepted in full the recommendations of the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which revealed very harrowing details of abuses perpetrated on children who had been placed by the State in residential institutions run by religious orders. In so doing, the Government made clear its intention to respond to each of the commission's recommendations. To this end, I was asked by the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, to prepare an implementation plan drawing on experience from all relevant Departments and public bodies. I believe that in commissioning such a plan the Government clearly demonstrated its commitment to both the survivors of institutional care and to vulnerable children of today.

The plan, published in July last year, reflects in my view a comprehensive response to Mr. Justice Ryan's recommendations. In drawing up the plan, I consulted with survivor groups both here in Ireland and in the United Kingdom, all relevant Departments, children's advocacy groups and agencies involved in the delivery of services to at risk children including staff representative groups. The submissions I received were detailed and substantive. I am determined that children in care today and other vulnerable children will be protected from neglect and abuse with all of the resolve of the State.

The implementation plan contains a total of 99 action points to address each of the commission's 20 recommendations. I am chairing a high level group to monitor the implementation of the actions specified in this plan. The group includes representatives from my office, the HSE, the Health Information and Quality Authority, the Irish Youth Justice Service, the Department of Education and Science and the Garda Síochána. The group will meet twice a year and a progress report will be presented to Government each year. The first meeting of the monitoring group was held on 13 November 2009. The lifetime of the group will be a minimum of four years.

Child welfare and protection policy in Ireland has come a long way since the period covered by the commission. Since the time described in the report we have taken significant steps forward in terms of policy and legislative provision. Major pieces of legislation, such as the Child Care Act 1991 and the Children Act 2001, have been passed. Key policy initiatives such as the Children First national guidelines, the National Children's Strategy, the Agenda for Children's Services and the Irish Youth Justice Service Strategy have come into force. What the implementation plan sets out, however, is that despite this strong legislative and policy framework, service delivery for children in need and children at risk is not sufficiently co-ordinated, unevenly distributed nationally and must be addressed. While considerable improvements remain to be made in our services, I believe there is a commitment, on behalf of policy makers and practitioners, to see positive change.

One of the commitments of the Ryan implementation plan is to ensure all children in care have an allocated social worker and care plan. To this end there is a commitment to filling 270 HSE social worker posts, which are currently vacant, by the end of this year. The HSE Service Plan 2010 undertakes to recruit an additional 200 social workers for child protection services - 50 by the end of the second quarter, a further 75 by the end of the third quarter and the final 75 in the fourth quarter. I understand from the HSE that the first candidates have now been interviewed and that by end June they expect to have an additional 50 social workers recruited. I also note that the HSE, as recently as last week, placed further recruitment advertisements, with a salary scale ranging from €43,000 to €56,000. This is against a backdrop of cuts in most other areas of public expenditure.

I have previously placed on the record of this House my appreciation for the work carried out by social work teams. I firmly believe that social workers, in dealing with difficult child protection cases, must be supported and guided by HSE management. I am sure that any person who has followed any recent child welfare cases through the courts appreciates the often very trying circumstances in which social workers operate.

Revised Children First guidelines were published on the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, OMCYA, website in December 2009, in line with a commitment of the Ryan implementation plan. We intend shortly to print the guidelines and to undertake a wide ranging dissemination exercise. In addition to that, legislation is to be drafted to provide a duty to comply with Children First for all bodies in receipt of State funding. I recognise that there is a need for Children First to be uniformly implemented throughout the State.

The substance and principles of Children First are unchanged. The guidelines have been edited to provide greater clarity for those individuals and organisations looking for assistance in identifying and responding appropriately to child abuse. In this context, much of the background text has been removed or placed as an appendix to make the guidelines more user-friendly. Content has been updated where required to reflect new agencies, such as the HSE and the HIQA, and progress in service delivery, policy or in legislation since 1999.

An implementation framework is being developed to include independent inspection of compliance. It is also intended that a high level interdepartmental Children First group will be established to be chaired and serviced by the OMCYA. Subject to finalisation, the group is to have representatives from key Departments, namely, the Departments of Education and Skills, Justice and Law Reform, Tourism, Culture and Sport and Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. The group will be tasked with overall oversight of national implementation of the guidelines across the various sectors and any policy issues arising, and it will report to myself.

It is important to note that Children First, although not on a statutory basis, still brings with it very clear responsibilities for those who become aware of child protection issues and those responsibilities are those we would reasonably expect everyone in society to live up to in caring for children.

I recently established an independent review group on child deaths, comprising Ms Norah Gibbons of Barnardos and Mr. Geoffrey Shannon, child law specialist and recently re-appointed as the Government's special rapporteur on child protection. A third independent person of international standing will be appointed to the group following a consultation process. The group is being asked to examine existing information on deaths of children in care so as to validate the categorisation of those children who died from natural causes; and, in regard to children other than those who died from natural causes, examine existing reviews-reports completed by the HSE or by others on behalf of the HSE, or the health boards, and based upon that information, provide an overall report for publication. I have recently written to the chairman of the HSE asking him to validate the list of relevant cases, and the group has commenced its work. I am awaiting a response from the chairman of the HSE on the issue of validation but will not be surprised if the number arrived at is higher than the figures previously notified by the HSE.

In the context of the publication of the reports into the deaths of Young Person A and Young Person B, I said it was unacceptable that the HSE did not have a standard system to manage the investigation and publication of reports into children who died in the care of the State. Thankfully, HIQA has now provided guidance for the HSE on serious incidents, including deaths of children in care. The independent group will present its report to me and I will lay the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas and publish it. Deaths of children in care is a highly sensitive subject, and I am determined to take on board any recommendations from the group as to how responses can be strengthened while remaining sensitive to a wide range of other needs. I fully accept the need for independence in this process, and note the comments of Mr. Shannon in his rapporteur's report in this regard.

In 2007, Mr. Shannon was appointed as special rapporteur on child protection. In the three year period since then his reports have informed policy and provided an objective and independent expert view of the child protection system - both criminal and civil - in Ireland. His third report was recently accepted by Government and published. On the subject of mandatory reporting, the position adopted by Mr. Shannon in his report reflects that of my office, namely, that mandatory reporting serves only to swamp child protection systems with high volumes of reports, often resulting in no commensurate increase in substantiated cases. I also accept the need identified by Mr. Shannon for all care facilities to receive independent and thorough inspections. My office is currently developing new regulations under the Health Act 2007 to allow for independent inspection of all children's residential centres and foster care services and to allow the independent registration and inspection of all residential centres and respite services for children with a disability, both committed to under the Ryan implementation plan.

I am very pleased that Mr. Shannon has agreed to continue to act as special rapporteur for a further period of three years. Following a re-engagement with the Church authorities in January 2009 and discussions involving the Church, the HSE and the OMCYA, a revised audit questionnaire was issued by the HSE in July 2009 to Catholic dioceses. In December 2009, the HSE wrote to all bishops requesting additional detailed information, including names of complainants, the persons against whom the complaint was made, and information in regard to reporting to the HSE-health boards and the Garda Síochána. The HSE received the last of the names of complainants and accused at the end of February and is now in the process of cross-referencing all names with files held by the Garda Síochána.

The HSE has a dedicated team working on preparation of its audit report and has engaged the services of an independent consultant to ensure that the process is conducted to the highest international standard. It hopes to have the report in regard to the dioceses completed in the near future. On the audit of the Religious Orders, the HSE is analysing returns from approximately 140 Orders and provides updates on progress to my office on an ongoing basis. As I stated previously in the Dáil, the Government is determined to ensure the Catholic Church is reporting current allegations of sexual abuse to the Health Service Executive and the Garda Síochána.

In February 2010, the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children produced its third and final report on family law matters of the Twenty Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2007, including an alternative wording for that amendment. The report deals with the rights of children under the Constitution and the statute and case law concerning adoption, guardianship, care proceedings, custody and access to children. I welcomed publication of the committee's final report, the contents of which are now under consideration by the Government. A senior officials group, reporting to the Cabinet sub-committee on Social Inclusion, has been reconvened to co-ordinate the responses of each Department.

It is recognised good practice and policy to where possible place children with extended family members. It is, therefore, a very positive development that of the children placed by the HSE with foster carers approximately one-third are placed with relative carers. While I recognise this is an important development for the benefit of children I am aware of the challenges also facing us in this area.

I acknowledge that in a situation where a child has been placed with a relative on an emergency basis, there is evidence that full assessments of those families have not occurred following an initial assessment. This is an unacceptable situation which the HSE must work to remedy as soon as possible. Another area of concern is the fact that approximately 84% of children in foster care with relatives and non-relatives have an allocated social worker. Again, it is not acceptable that 16% or approximately 815 children in foster care do not have an allocated social worker.

The many actions set out in the Ryan Implementation Plan were developed to assist me as Minister of State with responsibility for children and the HSE in resolving these problems and to ensure that all children in care receive the same level of appropriate and safe care whether with relatives or non-relatives. Integral to the workings of my office is its cross-departmental function and its endeavours to approach service delivery issues in a joined-up manner. Through strong contacts established with the HSE, the Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and other Departments, State agencies and NGOs, I have experienced first-hand the shared emphasis on improving children's lives in this country. Examples of this include the joint HSE-Garda protocol on emergency out of hours placements, the preparation of legislation in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Law Reform, the high level inter-departmental Children First group referred to earlier and the consultative group that produced guidance in regard to the guardiansad litem. Contacts with all the aforementioned continue on a regular basis.

I once again reiterate the Government's commitment to address the crucial challenge of protecting the most vulnerable members of our society. When children are failed for whatever reason, they must be protected by society and the State must take on this role. As every parent knows, this is a complex and difficult task requiring ongoing commitment, imagination and hard work.

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