Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to raise on the Adjournment the first report of the Ombudsman for Children, which was published yesterday. As someone who campaigned with former Deputy Austin Currie for an Ombudsman for Children, the publication of her first report is an important event and I congratulate Emily Logan and her staff on their work in establishing the office. The first year was difficult because there was no office or support but Ms Logan has now established a presence in this area. In future we will look forward to reports that will have a significant impact on children's rights.

We must look at the limitations and exclusions in her role that she has raised, particularly the limitations that apply to children in certain places of detention, the Garda Síochána, the administration of asylum, immigration, naturalisation and citizenship law, provision for the exercise of ministerial veto on investigation and the Defence Forces. Central to the office's concern is that these limitations will remove from its investigatory remit some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the State.

The Ombudsman for Children Act provides that the Ombudsman for Children should promote the rights and welfare of children. The ombudsman considers it an obligation to promote the rights of all children equally. To exclude any group or class of children from the reach of the Ombudsman for Children's investigatory powers by virtue of immigration status or detention in place not covered by the Act is to go against the primary objective of the Ombudsman for Children Act — the establishment of an ombudsman to promote the rights and welfare of children.

The exclusion of certain groups of children from the investigatory remit goes against the letter and spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children's rights institutions should proactively reach out to all groups of children, in particular the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, such as children in care or detention, refugee or migrant children and other groups. Institutions should have the right of access in conditions of privacy to children in all forms of alternative care or other places.

In its present form, the Ombudsman for Children falls short of the level of protection offered to children in other countries. This is demonstrated by comparison with the situation in Northern Ireland and in Scotland. The Commission for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland contains no specific exclusions on asylum, immigration, naturalisation or citizenship nor on the administration of prisons or other places of detention or of the custody of children. In Scotland the Commission for Children and Young People provides that the commissioner may investigate any service provider for young people or children in regard to the extent the service provider has regard to the rights, interests and views of children and young people in making decisions that affect them.

Under the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish and British Governments are committed to providing parity of protection to the rights of all people on the island. The State has fallen short of the level of protection offered to children in Northern Ireland. The Office of the Ombudsman for Children will seek to resolve this situation and will ask the Minister to look at amendments to the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002. I put the need to amend the Act to the Minister to deal with the Ombudsman for Children's concerns.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I will take the adjournment on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister of State with special responsibility for children. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to this House an update on this matter.

The Ombudsman for Children recently issued her first annual report. The Ombudsman for Children was appointed in December 2003 and the office was formally established in April 2004 with a staffing complement of nine. The report covers the period from April 2004 to April 2005.

The role of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children is twofold: to promote the rights and welfare of children and to investigate complaints.

On the investigation of complaints, the office has a wide remit that includes public bodies, schools and voluntary hospitals. This remit exceeds that of the Office of the Ombudsman, which has sought a similar wide-ranging remit for several years. During the period under review, 177 complaints were received which, for an office in its infancy, must be seen as substantial. The majority of complaints — 51% — related to education, 16% related to health and just over one quarter concerned child protection, social welfare entitlements, civil proceedings, asylum and immigration.

Actions excluded from the remit of the Ombudsman for Children are broadly similar to those of the Office of the Ombudsman. In the annual report the Ombudsman for Children addresses a number of areas in which her powers of investigation are limited. These include children in certain places of detention, the Garda Síochána, administration of the law relating to naturalisation, immigration, citizenship and asylum, the Defence Forces and provision for a ministerial veto in investigations. These limitations are in place as a result of independent bodies having investigation powers, such as the visiting committees for prisons and places of detention and the plans for a Defence Forces ombudsman.

The ministerial veto also exists in the Act establishing the Office of the Ombudsman and has never been used. The provision is in place to protect both the Minister and the Ombudsman for Children. It ensures that the Minister is accountable to the Oireachtas by avoiding any interference in the role of the Minister. It also protects the Ombudsman for Children as such a request must be in writing and it would be expected that the Ombudsman for Children would include this in any report to the Oireachtas, thus ensuring transparency.

As can be seen from the report, the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children has been very successful. The Ombudsman for Children adds a central plank to promoting children's rights and welfare, along with investigating complaints relating to issues affecting children. It is a major step forward in implementing the national children's strategy, particularly the first goal, which is concerned with giving children a voice.

I am pleased to report that the National Children's Office has made excellent progress in ensuring the development of structures to give children a voice and recently published national guidelines with the NGO sector on participation by children and young people.