James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I am more than happy to acknowledge that.

I, like the other Members of the House, would like to extend my sincere condolences to the family of Daniel McAnaspie who was under the care of the HSE at the time of his tragic and untimely death. I met his sisters outside this House some time ago and raised the issue of his disappearance here. It is particularly sad that this motion is being debated during the week that Daniel's remains have been found and it is desperately disappointing that the House will divide this evening on the simple matter of giving a commitment to hold a constitutional referendum on the rights of children in 2010. Of the 24 children to die in the care of the HSE, Daniel is the first we know to have been murdered. There must be no more. It is the most horrible manifestation of an abject failure of duty of care by the State to a child.

As Deputy Shatter pointed out last night, this motion has the full support of Fine Gael. It is deeply disappointing that it is necessary to table a motion in an attempt to force the Government to set a date for the referendum, especially when one considers the number of debates we have had in this House in the past 12 months on the importance of the care and protection of children, combined with the fact that we are at such an advanced stage on the constitutional amendment.

The final report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children was published on the 16 February 2010. It sets out the wording for the amendment which is agreed by all parties. In the last budget the Government allocated €3 million for the holding of the referendum in 2010. Despite the funding allocation and a substantial amount of work, the Government has refused to give a commitment to hold the referendum in 2010. As late as this morning the Taoiseach again refused to confirm a date. Yet again, there is much talk but no action. It is time for the Government to take action so that we, as a society, offer children the very best protection they deserve.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the publication of the Ryan commission report and despite all the rhetoric at that time, the past 12 months have continued to expose a litany of child protection failures - not of yesteryear, but of the services that are being delivered today. Recently, the Fine Gael spokesperson for children, Deputy Shatter, published a suppressed PA Consulting Group report, completed in October 2009, which identifies a litany of chronic and systemic failures in the management and delivery of child protection services. The report shows that the needs of children come secondary to the system and that the creation of the HSE in 2005 has done nothing to improve the delivery of children's care and protection services. There is an echo of that in the care that our adults also get.

The ethos that has evolved in the HSE since its inception is one of a self-serving system and not a patient-centred service or a child protection service. The findings in this report were supplemented by the publication last week of the report of the Ombudsman for Children who investigated the implementation of the Children First guidelines. This report identifies 11 findings of unsound administration confirming that successive Fianna Fáil-led governments have simply paid lip service to child protection. Despite a plethora of damning reports, including the Tracey Fay report published by Fine Gael, the Government and the HSE continue to fail to protect vulnerable children.

For too long change and reforms have been promised but not delivered upon. Fine Gael is committed to challenging the status quo and believes that we must act now to ensure children at risk are given the protection to which they are entitled. Fine Gael believes that the Government amendment to the motion being debated tonight is a damning indictment of a tired, worn out Government that is not fit for purpose. Given the publication of the report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, which proposes an appropriate and agreed wording to strengthen children's rights, Fine Gael believes that the Government must tonight give a firm commitment to hold a constitutional referendum in 2010.

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