Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Many harrowing reports have come before this House over the years. Generally, in the subsequent debate Members plead that the report in question be "a catalyst for change". History has shown that those pleas almost always fall on deaf ears. The kind of systemic, attitudinal and cultural change which is clearly shown to be necessary in report after report has not happened. Earlier reports into, for example, the Kelly Fitzgerald case, the Monageer tragedy or the recent Ryan report highlighted gross dysfunction within State services that has persisted and has not been addressed in the one place it can be, at Government level.

I join with the Minister of State in complimenting Ms Gibbons and her team. In the light of the reports that have gone before this one, I will highlight six key changes I believe are necessary if the State is to discharge its duty of care to vulnerable children adequately. I acknowledge the apologies made by the Minister of State and the HSE but if those apologies are sincere, they must be accompanied by tangible action.

First, there must be a systemwide overhaul within the HSE so that a clear chain of command exists from the front line right up to the office of the Minister for Health and Children. The Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, may do his best but Deputy Mary Harney is the senior Minister and the buck must stop with her. Her preference for delegation amounts to an abdication of responsibility and the consequences of an absence of accountability within her Department and its agencies are painfully apparent today. The fact is that the Minister of State does not have the power required for the change.

Second, a disciplinary inquiry must establish which personnel failed to discharge their responsibilities to the six children who are the subject of this report. There must be a consequence for an abject failure to carry out duties and responsibilities competently. The horrific consequence of sustained failure by various individuals within the HSE over the years is starkly outlined by this report. It refers to a particularly serious failure by one unaccredited social worker. I do not wish to single people out for criticism but many people are responsible for failing to prevent many years of abuse and neglect in this case. However, the HSE system will remain rotten if there is no transparency, accountability or consequences for gross negligence by employees. Such an inquiry must include a section on the legal advice received by the Western Health Board in this case. Why did the health board shirk its responsibilities once an injunction was secured? There are questions to be answered.

Third, the Minister of State with responsibility for children must recognise the urgency of appointing the promised national director for child care services. As far back as 9 June, the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, announced that he would appoint a new national director for child care services, an outside expert with a track record in sorting out child protection and welfare services and someone who would oversee the badly needed overhaul of services here. I realise that such experts cannot be recruited within a week, but it has been 20 weeks since that promise was made and every day since vulnerable children in this country have been either ignored or have received inadequate care from this State.

Fourth, I am calling for the Children First guidelines to be put on a statutory basis. We are all aware that these guidelines are being implemented in an uneven fashion and advocacy groups working on the ground are convinced that placing the guidelines on a statutory footing is the only way to ensure that they are implemented in a uniform fashion throughout the State.

Fifth, although it should go without saying, the Government must implement the recommendations contained in this report, many of which have been made before. It is such a sad reflection on this Parliament that it has become a cliché to refer to excellent reports gathering dust on shelves while their recommendations go unimplemented. In this regard, I am appealing directly to the Minister of State in the course of this debate to take personal responsibility for ensuring that the recommendations of this report are implemented.

Sixth, I am calling on the Minister of State and his Government to publish a proposal for a constitutional amendment giving children rights within the framework of Bunreacht na hÉireann. This case is the clearest illustration yet that we need constitutional change. I listened to the Minister of State's comments and it is most regrettable that the hard-won all-party consensus on the initial wording has been squandered by the Government and there is an urgent need for the Minister of State to spearhead a new consensus.

Every day that goes by without a date being set for the referendum this Government is failing vulnerable children. This House must acknowledge that the current wording of the Constitution does not protect children like those who are the subject of this report. The Constitution was used as a sword by the children's abusers to prevent the Western Health Board from removing any of the children from their abusive parents' custody without a further order of the High Court. The written affidavit submitted to the court when the injunction was being sought relied on the Constitution. In it, the mother stated "I say that I and my husband as a married couple have inalienable and imprescriptible rights over our children and I ask this honourable court for an order entitling us to keep our children together."

It is not satisfactory that the Constitution in its current format is capable of exploitation by dangerously abusive parents. I subscribe to the notion that the ideal place for a child is with its family but where a child is being abused, it is crucial and essential that the State can and does intervene for the good of the child.

This morning, I attended a presentation by advocacy groups which provide services to the most vulnerable children, namely, those who are abused physically, sexually, emotionally, materially and educationally. The eight groups, under the umbrella Saving Childhood, were all struggling to provide services having seen their funding cut in the past two years. All were extremely concerned about what will happen in the forthcoming budget.

I ask the Government to look at the big picture, to recognise where more appropriate savings can be made, for example, by streamlining funding into one single coherent stream involving one service level agreement for each group over a five year period. I ask it to recognise that cutting services for aftercare, counselling for victims of abuse and groups like those comprising Saving Childhood amounts to short-term savings and long-term costs of a financial, individual and societal nature. Let us not continue to replicate the mistakes of the past. When we do, it is vulnerable, voiceless children who pay the very heavy price.

See this speech in context