Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I agree with Deputy Jan O'Sullivan that language is important and that at times its use has had an impact on improving social rights and the attitudes people have to minorities.

Under the current legislation, children are held under detention orders. This Bill changes this to being detained under a special care order. It would be misleading to talk about this as other than detention. The child will be under a special care order for his or her safety and security and will not be free to go as in a high-support unit. The language has been carefully selected to reflect the true position.

I have sympathy with the Deputies' point but in practice the children in question know their status and that they are not being punished for any wrongdoing. A central principle of this legislation is to ensure children have that knowledge and awareness and they can be helped in securing their lives. Each special care order must be reviewed every four weeks in the High Court.

A unique feature of this legislation, which has not been pointed out enough in debate, is that it will not be enough of an excuse for the Health Service Executive, HSE, to claim it cannot pursue a special care order in the case of a child going through the criminal justice system. Up to and including a child getting a sentence short of actual detention, the HSE can still pursue a special care order. The HSE and the criminal justice system absolving themselves of or avoiding taking responsibility for a child in such circumstances is eliminated by this key feature in the legislation.

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