James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will publish the Health Service Executive Health Information and Quality Authority and social services inspectorate reports on hostels for unaccompanied migrant children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6686/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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All residential services for separated children seeking asylum are provided by non-statutory service providers on behalf of the Health Service Executive. The registration and inspection service of the HSE is responsible for the inspection of these residential services. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, does not inspect residential services operated by non-statutory service providers. However, when the relevant sections of the Health Act 2007 are commenced, the remit of HIQA will include inspections of both statutory and non-statutory children's residential centres.

The HSE has, year on year, increased the level of resources to separated children seeking asylum. This has allowed services to develop from the rudimentary service in 2000 to the level of support and care that exists today. The task is not yet complete and work will continue this year to develop the service to an appropriate standard.

There is recognition within the HSE that this service needs to be considered on a national basis. Plans are in progress to move the focus away from Dublin as a service point and, in the future, separated children will be placed in appropriate placements across the country. As a parallel process the hostels currently in use in Dublin will be wound down.

In or around 2000, when large numbers of asylum seekers began to arrive in this country there was an emergency response across all relevant agencies, including the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the former health boards and local authorities. Large hostels were used to accommodate asylum seekers and separated children seeking asylum were mixed in with single adults and families in such units. The former health boards' response regarding separated children was to put together a dedicated team to deal with the issue. Initially, a principal social worker was assigned with a number of staff. This team has grown over the years and now includes nearly 30 full-time staff including social workers and project workers, as well as clerical, medical, nursing and psychology inputs.

The first key task in respect of securing the safety of separated children was to place them in dedicated accommodation. This was done over a period, although many of the hostels then in use contained too many children and some contained up to 80 children. The next task was to reduce the number of children in each hostel to more appropriate numbers and this was achieved over time to the point where most hostels now have less than 30 children in each. In addition, a registered children's residential unit with six places was opened in the Tallaght area.

The current service provision to separated children includes foster care, residential care, supported lodgings and hostel care. The number of fostering placements has increased year on year. The most vulnerable of separated children are placed with foster parents. All separated children under the age of 12 are either cared for in a foster care setting or alternatively in a registered children's home.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

There currently are two registered children's homes in operation for separated children with two others in the process of being commissioned. These will accommodate children up to the age of 16. There also are seven hostels which provide accommodation for such children who are aged 16 years and over. As the HSE does not consider these hostels to be registerable, it is moving to phase out the hostel care arrangements starting next month. On this basis, these hostels are not being inspected by the registration and inspection service of the HSE. However, the HSE receives regular reports from the project workers attached to the team for separated children seeking asylum in respect of each hostel.

While the HSE is moving towards placing children across the country, in the medium term it will be necessary to continue to refer some children into the remaining hostels, although this will diminish with time. To date, three residential centres for separated children have been inspected. Two of the inspection reports have been completed and will be made available to the Deputy.

The HSE, in currently progressing plans to move to a more comprehensive model of care for these children, aims to ensure that all accommodation for separated children meets the relevant national standards. The HSE is working with the registration and inspection service to achieve this aim. It is anticipated that by the end of 2009 the number of registered children's residential centres that comply with the standards will have increased to four. It is the objective of the HSE that all separated children will, in the future as soon as is feasibly possible, be placed in foster care, in a registered residential care placement or the equivalent.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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While I thank the Minister of State for his reply, one might think while listening to it that something is being done. If that is the case, how could a further 16 children have gone missing during the 11 months of 2008 for which information is available? Is it not the case that reports have been completed on such hostel accommodation by the HSE or its agents? The NGOs have reported that nearly all the hostels failed that inspection. Will these inspection reports be published and put into the public domain?

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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First, it is not correct to state that nothing has been done. The Deputy is correct to state that a number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum went missing. However, that figure has fallen dramatically in the last four or five years, from 66 in 2005, to 22 by the end of 2008. I believe the Deputy referred to 18 such children. The figure fell by two thirds during that period. While I acknowledge that the number of children who sought asylum also fell by half, the number of that went missing came down more dramatically.

No inspections per se are carried out in respect of hostels. However, the HSE is constantly in receipt of reports from project workers and insists on the highest standards of accommodation being provided in such hostels. Moreover, the HSE has made clear that from next month, it will move towards the phasing out of such hostel-style accommodation and will insist that younger children are cared for either in foster care or in residential children's homes. Certainly, no younger children are cared for in hostels. While older children are cared for in this way, we have two registered children's homes at present and hopefully will have four by the end of the year. We wish to treat all unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the same way as all children in the State are treated.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister of State not accept the imperative to have an inspectorate of such hostels to protect the most vulnerable children in our society? This is particularly true given that 22 children went missing last year. Although the Minister of State noted that this was a reduction, there also has been a significant reduction in the number of children coming here.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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We are aware of the standards but the inspections to be undertaken by HIQA will come into play on the commencement of the Health Act 2007. The original question pertained to those inspections and as I indicated in my response, the registration and inspection service of the HSE is responsible and does take reports from project workers on a constant basis as to the standards in such hostel-style accommodations.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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This is a particularly disturbing aspect of child care for everyone concerned. While it is welcome that the numbers have fallen, the idea that young children can go missing at all is highly worrying. The Minister of State spoke of inspection but in the case of young children, the issue does not pertain to physical inspections as much as to the care system and whether such children are watched and cared for on a 24-hour basis as one would expect. Moreover, the Minister of State stated that younger children are being moved to homes, foster homes and so on. What is the cut-off age in this regard?

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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On the last point, being under 12 is the strict cut-off point at which hostel accommodation is completely inappropriate. However, the vast majority of children in hostel-style accommodation are in the 16 to 17-year old age group. As for the care system, 24-hour care is provided for such children. Two project workers are located in each hostel and provide the highest standard of care for the children. In general, the development of policy in this area has been considerable in the past ten years. This issue has received high prioritisation. Much intergovernmental work has taken place, as has much work with statutory and non-statutory agencies, including the Garda, the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Garda missing persons bureau regarding the sharing of information through all such groups.

This issue has attracted a high level of concentration on the Government's part. Although there has been a dramatic fall in numbers and although we know from our colleagues in Europe that many of the children who go missing simply are reuniting with families that already are here or else are going to other European countries, the reduction does not give us cause for complacency.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The HSE has stated that many of these children have been rescued from desperate situations. Is this true?

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Not many, no.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Is it true that some of these children have been rescued from brothels, in which they have been engaged in the sex industry? How can the Minister of State assert in this House that such children are being provided with the highest standards of care when no controls are in place? The Minister of State himself has admitted that no inspection of such facilities has taken place since 2000. When will an inspection take place? When will Members have sight of the reports that have been collated by the HSE? Does the Minister of State believe it is acceptable that 16 children went missing last year from such hostels during the 11 months for which figures are available? I believe that one child is one too many and the disappearance of a single child constitutes a damning indictment of the existing system.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Clearly, one child going missing is a challenge. However, I must say that——

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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It is a scandal, not a challenge.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Naughten should wait a second. One must be balanced about this issue. I already have made the point that many of the children who go missing are reunited with their——

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Some of them are.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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However——

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please allow the Minister of State to respond.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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——Members should be balanced about this issue. One also must be honest and acknowledge that children have been rescued from abusive situations, be they sexual or pertaining to employment. That is the reason for the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act, which prioritises child trafficking. It is the reason for the existence of an anti-human trafficking unit within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is the reason the Garda has devoted so many resources to Operation Snow, which is an effort to both support children and to secure prosecutions in this regard. However, I also should point out that since the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act came into force last year, no prosecutions have been taken in this area. This does not mean there are no instances of such activity.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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It is because some of those who gave evidence have disappeared.

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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This is a developing area of law and a balanced approach must be taken.