James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The truth is not fragile; it will not break. Deputy Troy cannot shout it down.

On some of the other issues, the Government does not rule out amendments, as Deputy Troy says. This is done on the basis of the rules governing the Houses and the call is made by the relevant clerk.

A number of Deputies mentioned Empowering People in Care, EPIC. I met Ms Jennifer Gargan and those who work in EPIC and they do fantastic work. What singularly impressed me is the number of young people who, having been in care, are still involved with EPIC and still helping and advising those who are in care now. On the floor of this House, I thank them for their tremendous generosity and the courage they show, and also their tremendous intelligence around how to communicate with younger people, including the excellent book they produced about children going into care. Not only is it useful for the child, but the sub-message underneath it is good advice for the carer and the foster family in terms of what matters to children.

Deputy Troy mentioned the reach of the agency. I do not agree with him. We do not need a plan to duplicate the work of other State organisations. A statutory obligation on the agency to deliver that would be a duplication of resources. Homelessness among families is a problem, and we meet regularly at the social policy committee of the Cabinet to address this issue. Homelessness is clearly the remit of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, and that obligation is under law and very clear. The Deputy talked about the agency being responsible for the implementation of the aftercare plan. It must deliver, he says, on social welfare, education, housing, etc. Clearly, this is also a duplication of role, function, remit and budget. It would not make sense even if we had unlimited resources, which clearly we do not. Core plans are for children in the care of the State and they are not for those who may be homeless and otherwise in a stable family setting. We must have regard to the role and function of the agency under its establishing Act. As such, under the Act of 2013, the agency is responsible for allocating its budget, and to cut across this would not be in accordance with the Act because it would not have regard to its resources.

Deputy Troy also mentioned the Early Years programme and the regulations. These are under discussion with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. There have been a number of issues which required detailed discussion with that office in order to move them forward, including one matter that I am providing for in this Bill - that is, inspections before these premises can open.

The Bill is to provide for consistency and aftercare planning and to address the gaps referred to by Deputy Finian McGrath. Deputy McGrath also talked about multiple placements. While multiple placements are in some cases an unfortunate reality, by international standards the number of children in care who have multiple placements in fact compares very favourably. I would be very concerned about an issue that was raised by the children in EPIC. One of the big issues from their point of view was lack of continuity, even in relation to social workers. We will strive to avoid that. It is difficult to build a relationship with somebody. It is difficult to build trust. When such trust is established, it is difficult, if there is a change of personnel, for the young person.

I wanted to address Deputy Finian McGrath's concerns around early intervention. Of course we firmly believe in early intervention. I have always believed in it. As a doctor, I have seen how early intervention can change lives. Clearly, the moneys that we have made available now to extend the Early Childhood Care and Education, ECCE, scheme will be most helpful in this regard. The bottom line here has been, and it is now proven, that those who gain the most from that programme are, in fact, the children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. It gives them the chance to level the playing field. They go to school with better reading skills and so on. Later in life, as has been shown in other countries that have achieved higher retention rates in education, achieving a higher educational attainment makes one more employable, gives one a better standard of living and helps young people to come out of poverty.

On the issue of the budget, Deputy Finian McGrath is quite correct. We have increased the budget now to €676 million, which is an increase of €38 million. Within that budget, I had asked for an audit of unallocated social workers for children at risk.

When I received it, I requested a business plan to address it. Tusla has produced a three-year business plan and priced the funding it needs over those three years, and we have met in full its ask for the issue for next year.

Some will say three years is too long. This problem has been with us for decades and it is sensible and pragmatic to take an orderly approach that will be successful. I do not want to remind the Deputy of what I have said to him about this problem. Ireland has a very poor record on children historically, and we know the terrible tragedies that occurred when children left care. They seemed to disappear over the cliff, with disastrous consequences for them. They need ongoing support, and the Bill is aimed at identifying what those supports should be for each individual in consultation with each individual.

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