Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she agrees with Dr. Helen Buckley that the workload of the National Review Panel is virtually impossible to carry out owing to the number and breadth of inquiries it must investigate; if she intends to assign more resources to the panel; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32622/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In January 2010, HIQA published Guidance for the Health Service Executive for the Review of Serious Incidents including Deaths of Children in Care. The guidance became operational from March 2010. The guidance required the HSE to establish a panel of appropriately skilled professionals, both internal and external, to review cases under specified criteria. According to the HIQA guidance, the panel should have an independent chair and deputy chair and professionals from a range of disciplines appointed for their professional expertise.

In accordance with the HIQA guidance, last year, the HSE established a national review panel to undertake these reviews. Dr. Helen Buckley, senior lecturer and research fellow at the school of social work and social policy, Trinity College Dublin, was appointed as chair. Dr. Bill Lockhart, retired CEO, Youth Justice Agency, Northern Ireland, was appointed as deputy chair. There are 20 ordinary members on the panel, 18 of whom are external to the HSE. In addition, a senior professional manager and a senior administrative manager were assigned to support the work of the panel. While the national review panel has been established under the auspices of the HSE, it remains functionally independent, making findings of fact and producing reports that are objective and independent of the HSE.

I thank Dr. Buckley and all involved in the recent report. The 2010 annual report covers the period from March to December 2010. During this period, 22 cases of death were notified and eight serious incidents. Of the 22 deaths, reported, six of these were due to natural causes, four were drugs overdoses, four were as the result of suicide, four were due to road traffic accidents, two were homicide and two were as a result of accidents other than road traffic accidents.

The report states that the criteria for the cases to be reviewed are broad by international standards. This is an important point to note. The report also states: "the NRP is concerned that the HIQA guidance places virtually impossible obligations on it. The combination of timelines, detail required and unanticipated volume of notifications presents difficulties for the NRP that were never intended." The national review panel report goes on to suggest ways in which the process of reviewing serious incidents and child deaths could be improved.

Additional material not given on the floor of the House.

Furthermore the report states:

Is it necessary, or even beneficial, for every case to be reviewed? It would, and perhaps, should, be possible for the independent chair of the NRP to select representative cases from which a maximum of learning can be extracted without running the risk, as has happened in other jurisdictions, of services being drowned in a flood of similar conclusions and recommendations.

Given the fact that this is a new process, it is not surprising that the review panel has remarked on the nature of the process itself and challenges in putting into operation the HIQA guidance. The HIQA has already agreed to review the guidance and are engaging actively with the national review panel and the HSE children and family services in this regard. These are matters which will be considered by the HIQA in the first instance and by my officials in the context of related policy and legislative developments already in train.

The first annual report of the NRP is the subject of consideration by the HSE and I would expect that any measures falling directly to the HSE which are necessary to strengthen the effectiveness of the review process will be implemented.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her response. As she pointed out, the national review panel was set up in response to the poor recording of child death over the years within the HSE and the failure on the part of the State to investigate and assess the problems and weaknesses in each area.

I also commend Dr. Buckley and the review panel for their work on this. They were asked to look into 36 cases, of which six were included in the report published some weeks ago. These cases are not merely paper files but represent real children who suffered, in some cases, death, in others, serious incidents. In her report Dr. Buckley stated that the number of deaths was not out of kilter with the national average, a relevant point here.

Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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A question to the Minister, please.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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The key point is that each child was in the care of the State. Children need to be assessed to discover whether weaknesses are present which need to be acted upon immediately. Worryingly, Dr. Buckley stated she did not have the resources to deal appropriately with the cases. What are the Minister's plans to deal with this and ensure resources are available so that when the next report is published there is no need for Dr. Buckley to say she cannot get through the workload?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The death of every child is a tragedy and I offer every sympathy to the families whose children were reported upon by this review panel. It is interesting to note in the review that no case of death or serious incident was related to an action or inaction of the HSE child protection services. That is a very important point coming from this review and worth noting.

It is not surprising, given this is a new process, that the review panel has remarked on the nature of the actual process. Some of the guidance it has been given, along with the suggestion that this ought to be reviewed presents a challenge. The report states, for example:

Is it necessary, or even beneficial, for every case to be reviewed? It would, and perhaps, should, be possible for the independent chair of the NRP to select representative cases from which a maximum of learning can be extracted without running the risk, as has happened in other jurisdictions, of services being drowned in a flood of similar conclusions and recommendations.

The panel is reviewing the guidelines it was given. I have met with the HIQA which set the original guidelines. It is important that the HIQA should review what has emerged from this report and make some recommendations, taking up some of the points Dr. Buckley made in regard to the very wide remit. I asked the HIQA to review the guidance already given and it is engaging actively with the national review panel and the HSE children and family services in this regard. These will be considered by the HIQA in the first instance, as well as by my officials in the context of related policy and legislative developments already in train. The first annual report is subject to consideration by the HSE and I would expect that any measures falling directly to the HSE that are necessary to strengthen the effectiveness of the review process will be implemented. I await comments from the HIQA. The future of the review panel will be determined by its response to its first report and by the comments of Dr. Buckley and the other people involved in it. There are matters to be learnt from this report about how we should approach this work in the future.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Minister pointed out, the report did not indicate that any of the deaths were directly attributable to inaction by the HSE. It did, however, highlight failures in terms of HSE practice in regard to child care over a period of years, breaches of Children First guidelines, etc. The key point is that each of those cases be investigated, and if the HIQA highlights that extra resources are needed that they be given. That is crucial.