Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

He is a bright young man going nowhere.

The Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs has overseen the development of revised Children First guidelines. These latest guidelines take account of previous reviews and have been modified to incorporate feedback from the Ombudsman for Children. They are now being printed and will be widely disseminated as part of the initiation of a comprehensive implementation process. The new guidelines will be supported by a detailed implementation framework which will apply across all sectors and will include a particular emphasis on the need for systems of quality assurance and inspection to ensure that the guidelines are being properly implemented. The ultimate aim must always be to ensure the protection and well-being of children who are being abused or at risk of being abused.

Many of the actions outlined in the Government's implementation plan for the Ryan report will have a direct impact on the operation of child welfare and protection services and on many of the organisations, both voluntary and statutory, which have direct contact with the children. The Government is committed to the implementation of this plan and €15 million is being made available this year for the implementation of these actions. The implementation plan includes a commitment to draft legislation by December this year to introduce a statutory obligation on State bodies and others in receipt of public funding to comply with Children First. This requirement, together with the detailed implementation framework for the revised Children First guidelines, will ensure that the weaknesses identified by the Ombudsman for Children are comprehensively addressed.

I welcome the fact that this report on an area of great importance has been published. It sets out the findings of the Ombudsman for Children arising from an investigation into the implementation of the guidelines. They have been in place since 1999 and were recently reviewed and revised by the Office of the Minister for Children. We have a duty of care to try to alert everybody to the possibility of child abuse. The report recognises that substantial efforts have been made since 1999 to implement the Children First guidelines, which were designed to strengthen existing child protection services. It acknowledges that Children First is by far the most comprehensive and far-reaching document on child protection and welfare in the history of the State.

The report also highlights difficulties in the implementation of Children First and, in doing so, concurs with previous reviews, including a comprehensive review of the guidelines published in 2008 by the Office of the Minister for Children. The Ombudsman for Children's investigation found that insufficient efforts were made by the health boards and the HSE to drive forward implementation of the guidelines and resolve problems arising-----

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