Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the arrangements he has put in place to coordinate the work of Ministers of State. [9565/11]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together.

The programme for Government sets out the Government's priorities and my statement to the House on 9 March nominating Ministers and setting out the restructuring of Departments reflected these priorities. The programme was adopted by the Government at its first meeting as the framework for its policy over the coming years.

Ministers of State are appointed by the Government. When I announced these appointments in the House, I set out the Departments and areas of responsibility to which the Ministers of State were being assigned. Ministers and Ministers of State will be working together to progress those actions and initiatives that fall within their Departments' area of responsibility in order to achieve the implementation of the programme for Government.

The Government is a collective authority. The work of Ministers of State is of course co-ordinated through the operation of Government. I intend to meet Ministers of State on a regular basis to discuss progress on implementing the programme.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is fair to state that the Taoiseach appointed three Ministers of State more than he stated were required, but he still left some very important areas uncovered. After very negative feedback, he agreed to extend two remits to include older people and drugs policy. In an honest bona fide way, I wish to put to the Taoiseach that there is concern about the apportionment of ministerial responsibility in the drugs area. It has been separated from responsibility for community development for the first time in 16 years. It is accepted that dealing with the drugs issue should be in the context of a community-wide response. Will the Taoiseach commit to revisiting how the drugs policy is handled and give it to a Minister of State as a full responsibility together with community development?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In the transfer of responsibilities and the establishment of new Departments, consideration must be given to all of this. The Minister of State, Deputy Róisín Shortall, deals with drugs and I am quite sure she will be prepared to have a comprehensive debate in the House whenever Members wish about the evolution of dealing with the drugs phenomenon, the difficulties this causes in so many communities, the information being brought forward to Deputies about activities with criminal intent, the use of certain persons, including children, in the transfer of drugs from one community to another and the wreckage this inflicts on people's lives. This issue goes beyond mere party politics, and the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, will be happy to have a debate whenever the House so wishes.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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My question is about the extent of the Taoiseach's co-ordinating role regarding the work of Departments. For example, particular issues affect children, including children with disabilities or learning difficulties. Issues also affect adults with disabilities, and huge issues, such as suicide, exist just below the surface. Such issues might cut across four, five, six or seven Departments and it is necessary to get a joined-up approach so the Government can deliver on these matters. I know this is a new Government but my experience, limited although it might be, particularly in the Northern Assembly, has been that where one could get strategic joined-up cross-departmental focus, one could get very quick delivery. Has the Taoiseach examined doing this? I could use any issue as example but I will take that of children with disabilities. Their parents may have to go through a plethora and maze of processes to try to get the child's entitlement. Suicide and self harm are also issues that cut across many Departments. As a job of delivery, will the Taoiseach take one of these issues and try to co-ordinate the work of the necessary Departments?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I recognise this is a difficulty, which is precisely why the Government on my nomination created a senior Ministry to deal with children and youth affairs. Over the years, I have heard many examples of parents who were frustrated and driven to the point of despair trying to access facilities, resources and rights for their children, covering a broad spectrum. In many instances, they had to face court cases to get facilities from Departments of State. This is why the Minister for Children will seek to address these problems. I recall that when the former Minister of State, Austin Currie, was appointed with responsibility for children many years ago, he discovered that sections of various Departments had never consulted with each other, had never met each other, and in some cases did not even know that sections existed in other Departments. This is why the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, will bring clarity and action to this area. The legislation setting up her Department will be published on 3 June and will give definition and responsibility in an area we consider to be an absolute priority. That is reflected in the appointment of a senior Cabinet Minister to deal with it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Two of these three questions were mine. One question was on co-ordination and the other was on prioritisation. I mentioned the drugs policy earlier. The allocation of Ministries and remits is wrong and could undermine accepted analysis and approaches to the drugs issue. Will the Taoiseach look again at how the responsibilities have been allocated?

Having been involved in the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children, having worked with the Minister of State with responsibility for children and having seen how the office has worked over the years in terms of co-ordination and delivery of policy across the board, lumping disability, equality, mental health and older people together under one Minister of State is perhaps too onerous and does not do justice to older people.

Children benefited from the co-ordination that resulted from the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children, including the national children's strategy and so on, and the policy of having a Minister of State with responsibility for older people should have continued because the issues are enormous and wide-ranging in terms of an aeging population and, thanks be to God, one that is living longer because of modern advances in medicine and so on. A wide range of issues need to be dealt with and justify the allocation of a specific Minister of State to embrace the issues of older people and to co-ordinate all the issues which challenge older people in modern society. A mistake has been made by not doing that.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The question was about the number of Ministers of State. This Government believes it should get a more effective response with a much smaller number of Ministers of State, who will have to do more work. The work being carried out by the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, in the mental health and older people areas is complementary to that of the Minister for Health and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, where it impacts on the lives of children. This is a case where we must get it right.

The responsibilities allocated to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will be connected very directly to the work of the Ministers of State who deals with community, drugs, mental health and other areas affecting young people and will build a sense of community response from the Departments of Health and Education and Skills or Departments affecting children and young people.

One can argue about this until the cows come home but we made a conscious decision to reduce the number of Ministers of State to get more from less and to build a delivery of public service for all these people in a leaner, more efficient and more professional way. That is why, at Cabinet level, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs will work with her colleagues in the Departments of Education and Skills, Health and Justice, Equality and Defence and with the Ministers of State with direct responsibility.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I wish the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, well in her responsibilities. She can be assured of co-operation from our party and she will know that Deputy Ó Caoláin has done some exemplary work on the issue of children's rights.

On my question on the co-ordinating role - I accept entirely the examples the Taoiseach has given - it could be used across the whole range of governance, for example, on all-Ireland and cross-Border issues. One of the things which frustrates me, and I am sure every Deputy, is that we can deal with individual cases in that someone will come into our advice centres and we may, through diligent work, help that person but there are thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people we cannot help because we need to make societal change to ensure the issues pressing down on people are rectified and addressed properly.

I commend any effort to co-ordinate the work of the Departments to adopt that cross-departmental approach and I assure the Taoiseach of full co-operation from our party in so far as it can help in those matters. Will the Taoiseach make clear that this will be his approach on all those issues in the term of this Government?

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Will the Taoiseach consider nominating a Minister of State with specific responsibility for the offshore islands to co-ordinate the policy approach?

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What was the question?

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I asked whether a specific Minister of State would take control over co-ordinating policy for the offshore islands.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I can answer "Yes" to the latter question from Deputy Harrington.

I commend Sinn Féin for its participation in, and valid contribution to, the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. If we do nothing else over the next number of years, we should be able to focus on providing a platform for all the children of this island to be able to compete with their peers internationally and on giving them the best education we can provide and the best opportunity to enable them to compete, to live up to their potential, to give vent to their creativity and imaginative qualities and to continue to keep the reputation of this country and its people at the highest possible level as they stand on the competitive platforms in a world that is changing rapidly.