Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it will be within the current Dáil term. The legislation is very close to finalisation. It is an enormous Bill and I want to be absolutely sure that all the preparatory work is done. I know the Deputy is aware that much work is ongoing in setting up the agency and it is not that we are just waiting for legislation and nothing else is happening. I will set a precise date for the establishment of the agency when we bring legislation to the House and pending discussion in the Dáil and the Seanad. I have been in touch with the offices of Deputies Ó Caoláin and Troy to offer a more detailed briefing on setting up the agency. There will also be an opportunity in Friday's committee meeting for me to spell out in more detail precisely what is happening at this stage.

It is a significant transformation and a big priority for the Government. All of the necessary organisational changes are continuing while we await changes, and the scale of changes is considerable. We must be very careful and prepare extremely well in this regard. One example of an area where good progress is being made but where we have much work is in developing the financial procedures and accounting required for a major public body like the child and family agency. We have to build new financial systems to deal on a national level with some of the issues currently dealt with locally. I pay tribute to the Secretary General of my Department, Mr. Jim Breslin, who has done much work in preparing for the establishment of the agency, as well as Mr. Gordon Jeyes.

Over 100 reforms are in motion to change the way in which various issues are dealt with and I would be very happy to speak about them in more detail. For example, there will be reorganisation of residential centres into a national service under a single national manager. There will also be a review of case loads and reformation of the interface with the courts system. Given the cost of court cases and child care, Mr. Jeyes has been doing much work in that regard.

Intense work is also being done within the HSE by Gordon Jeyes and the new management team, and by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, in preparation not just for the legislation but for all of the organisational changes. The legislation will be before the Dáil during this term and I expect to be in a position to introduce in the Bill to establish the agency in the next couple of weeks.

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