Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Two reports have been published in the past 24 hours that can only be described as damning indictments of the failure of the Government to provide essential services for children in need of care and for children at risk. The failure of services for children, as managed by the HSE, to provide for proper care management and long-term planning for children in care aged 12 years and under is highlighted in a report published by the Health Information and Quality Authority. It details just under 100 children aged 12 years in residential care for whom fosterage was more likely a better alternative and in respect of whom no managed care plans of an adequate nature were provided. The report states:

Inspectors found considerable variation and significant shortfalls in the standard of statutory care planning across the country. In relation to care plan reviews, inspectors found the care plans reflected the situation as it was at the time of admission or whether the initial identified needs were met. They did not take account of significant life events or the views of the children. Inspectors found that care planning was more often determined by crisis management rather than long-term planning for what best met the needs of the child.

It further states there were "significant discrepancies" between initial care plans and current circumstances and "wide variations in care planning practice". Some children's views were not actively sought and some of those, where sought, were given very limited weight, despite our obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The second report published today, launched by the Minister, was written by two experts in Waterford and deals with the predicament of child victims of domestic violence. It can be summed up by saying there was a total failure to provide children who were victims of domestic violence with access to meaningful services which could have provided them with help or support other than refuge services. In the context of refuge services, it was clear that such services generally excluded teenagers who were just as much at risk as younger children. The report highlights the need for child centred services, community-based child service supports and refuges to be open to teenage boys. It also emphasises the need for a community care social work response and, in particular, the necessity of access to child psychiatry and counselling services without long waiting periods. None of these services is being provided.

An issue the report does not seem to address but with which I am personally familiar is the need for court based services when wives or husbands who are the victims of domestic violence attend court for the purpose of obtaining protection orders or domestic violence orders. There is no social work back-up system attached to the courts to provide either counselling for spouses or children or to ensure liaison with local communities.

I cannot take seriously the speech delivered earlier today by the Minister of State, Deputy Smith, regarding the robust safeguards for the rights of the child intended to be put in place in the context of the Constitution when we have a ten year action plan for children, the national children's strategy, which was published in 2000. Seven years into this plan, there are significant gaps in services. It is essential that there is an immediate response by the HSE and the Government to both reports.

In the context of the forthcoming report by the proposed Oireachtas committee on the wording for a children's rights referendum to the Constitution, we must ensure we do not become distracted from the obligations of the Government to provide well managed, properly resourced and comprehensive services to meet the needs of children. Many of those needs can be met without any change to or amendment of the Constitution.

I am greatly concerned that the debate on the constitutional referendum will be a diversion from focusing on the major defects in services and the significant gaps that must be addressed. There is a possibility that the debate on a constitutional provision will become mere constitutional window-dressing. For 30 years I have personally campaigned for a change in our Constitution to recognise and protect the rights of the child. I welcome the fact that we are on the road to doing that, but we must not forget the very real needs which should currently be met and for which statutory provision has been made. These needs are not being met.

It is my wish for us to have a constructive discussion in the committee to be formed and that we do our best to produce the best form of wording to address the major gaps in our constitutional provisions as they currently apply to children. If we are to do so on a co-operative basis, the co-operation must come from the beginning.

I note the Minister of State in a speech earlier today commented on producing terms of reference shortly for Cabinet. This committee involves all parties in the House and I hope that before terms of reference for the committee are finalised, Fine Gael, as the main Opposition party, will be consulted about the draft terms of reference. In that way we would have input into its formation and the work to be done by the committee from the start. In the meantime, I hope the Minister of State will indicate the specific action proposed to be taken by the Government to rectify the problems graphically illustrated in the reports published yesterday evening and today.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Shatter for raising these important issues on the Adjournment and congratulate him on his appointment as spokesperson for the Fine Gael Party on children's matters. I look forward to working with him over the coming years in a constructive manner.

I welcome the opportunity to reply to this Adjournment matter. I assume the Deputy is referring to the findings of the Health Information and Quality Authority social services inspectorate's report, The Placement of Children aged 12 and under in Residential Care in Ireland, launched yesterday, and the report, Listening to Children: Children's Stories of Domestic Violence, launched earlier today.

The Health Information and Quality Authority's social services inspectorate's report notes that inspectors found a lack of placement options for this age group, with continued placement in residential centres being maintained due to a lack of available options. I understand the Health Service Executive has accepted that children of this age group should only be placed in residential care in exceptional circumstances. For example, this would be where a sibling group is being placed together for the purposes of maintaining a family unit, where there are particular therapeutic needs or where short-term issues must be addressed prior to an alternative placement.

The Health Service Executive has advised that the numbers of children in this age group in residential care has reduced from 120 children aged 12 and under in 2004 to 93 in 2006. The latest information available to the HSE suggests a further substantial reduction by the end of 2007. These reductions reflect the ongoing priority attached to caring for children in family settings. I am heartened by the HSE's indication that the findings of this report will be used to make further improvements in this area.

The importance of effective and rigorous care planning cannot be underestimated. I welcome the finding that all the children in this study had a care plan and virtually all had a social worker assigned to them. My office has been assured by the Health Service Executive that having ensured compliance with statutory requirements, it will continue to work to improve the quality of care planning throughout the care system. In respect of the current placement of those under 12 in residential settings, the HSE has initiated a review of all these cases to ensure they are placed appropriately and will, if necessary, strengthen care planning arrangements for their placement in alternatives to residential care.

Where there is no option but to take a child into State care it is imperative that we continue to work towards providing each child with specific services to meet his or her needs and those of the families. I welcome the fact that the executive is seeking to develop specialised foster care services which will provide more intensive support for children who have significant needs in this regard while working closely at all times with the child's family.

An annual national fostering campaign is also being developed by the executive in conjunction with the Irish Foster Care Association for 2008. I anticipate that this, together with the HSE ongoing foster carer recruitment campaigns, will encourage many more people to undertake this important role in the lives of these children.

My office and the Health Service Executive are examining all the recommendations contained in the report and are working together on the development of a policy direction regarding the placement of children aged 12 and under in residential care. We must be mindful that at times residential care may be the most appropriate and beneficial option for the child at that time.

The report, Listening to Children: Children's Stories of Domestic Violence, launched earlier today, identifies the impact on children of witnessing domestic violence and the nature, scope and adequacy of domestic violence services for children. My office commissioned this study which, as Deputy Shatter mentioned, was carried out by two researchers from Waterford Institute of Technology.

To improve the level of co-ordination and coherence in the Government's response to domestic violence, it was decided that an executive office should be established with key responsibility for this issue. Cosc, the national office for the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, was established in June this year to fulfil this task. I am pleased to advise the Deputy that Cosc has agreed to work with my office in instances where issues regarding domestic and sexual violence against children arise.

Research indicates that some services are difficult to access but children who are the victims of domestic violence and their families have access to the range of child protection and child welfare services provided directly by the Health Service Executive and through funded agencies across the country. They can also access child and adolescent mental health services.

Part of Cosc's work will be to raise awareness of the services available and to work with the agencies concerned towards the delivery of well co-ordinated services to support victims of domestic violence. My office and the Health Service Executive support and encourage a primary care response to domestic violence which integrates locally based and readily accessible services, including joining the services of the Garda Síochána, general practitioners and the Health Service Executive.

It is also important to point to the increased allocation to the HSE from €12 million last year to €16.5 million in 2007, which should assist in improvement to front-line services. A further €1.5 million was allocated for the implementation of the review of the sexual assault treatment services, with a commitment to increase this allocation by €1 million in 2008 to cover the full-year cost of implementing those recommendations.

I will ask the HSE to examine the findings of the research being undertaken and to consider how services in this area can be further improved.