Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will remind the Minister of what she said on 25 May 2011:

It is a matter of particular concern to me that, despite a commitment by the previous Minister in July 2009, no draft legislation had been prepared to put the Children First Guidelines on a statutory footing. This will be a key priority for me as Minister. I am pleased to say that substantial work has been done to progress this in the past weeks. I will be outlining further details of these proposals very shortly.

On 15 July 2011, she said, "Earlier this week I sought and received Government approval to bring forward legislation to require, for the first time, statutory compliance with Children First". The Government's legislative programme listed it for publication before Easter this year. That is going back two years. Does the Minister accept that in the absence of this legislation, children are being left in vulnerable situations? When can she give a definitive timeframe as to when this crucial piece of legislation will come before this House? We are supportive of her with regard to this and all her reforms yet she is failing to meet target after target, which she and nobody else set.

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