Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the resource implications of making her aspirations for children's rights a reality; the way she intends to ensure the necessary resources are available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46939/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the proposed constitutional amendment is to recognise children in their own right within the Constitution. It also acknowledges that each child enjoys rights and deserves certain protections from the State by virtue of the fact that, as a child, he or she is vulnerable. The referendum will not address all wider issues that impact on children.

This referendum is the fundamental backdrop to the wider programme for change for children being pursued by the Government. These reforms focus on intervention to ensure the safety and welfare of children and to ensure that child protection services can respond proportionately to all child protection concerns. Central to the programme for change for children is the plan to take child protection services out of the Health Service Executive, HSE, and establish a new dedicated child and family support agency. This agency will be fully operational in 2013 and will mean a move to a situation where child and family welfare will be the sole focus of a single dedicated agency, overseen by a single dedicated Department.

The report of the taskforce, which I set up to advise on how to best organise services for children, was published in July. Its report maps out an executive agenda for the development of services so that we can do the very best for parents, children and families. Ahead of the establishment of the new agency, an additional €21 million in funding has been made available to the HSE child and family services in 2012, reflecting the priority attached by the Government to the reform of child welfare and protection services.

Since February 2011, there has been an increase of 69 whole-time equivalents and 86 individual child and family social workers with an increase in the proportion of children with an allocated social worker.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Since taking office last year, it has been evident to me that there is a particular need to improve the quality and accuracy of information available from the HSE in child protection services, together with a need to provide more timely and meaningful information. The introduction of the national child care information system, NCCIS, will help to greatly improve performance in this area. I am pleased to say good progress is being made by the HSE with regard to the introduction of this system, which will help to significantly improve the level, quality and accessibility of information in respect of children and family services.

The matter of resources for services to children will be considered by the Government in the context of the overall budgetary arrangements for 2013. While it is not open to me, in that context, to pre-empt decisions to be made by Government, I would point out that the Government continues to invest very significantly in services for children across a range of areas. The Government will continue this approach, to the greatest possible extent, in dealing with the serious financial challenges facing the country overall.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. She knows all Members support the referendum on children’s rights. Earlier, we were all across in the playground in the Merrion Square park calling for support of the referendum. While it is an important step in recognising children’s rights, it is not a panacea. Since my appointment as my party’s spokesperson on children and youth affairs, I have sought clarification on funding and resources for child services on numerous occasions.

I assume when the Minister was drafting the constitutional amendment, she engaged with other Departments to ascertain what resource implications the referendum would involve. Will she make available any information she may have on this? On Wednesday the Minister told the Law Society about the importance of family support and the need for adequate resources being made available for it. If the referendum is carried and the attendant adoption legislation is passed, hundreds of children will be able to apply for adoptions. Will additional resources be made available to meet these demands? Will the required personnel and social workers be in place to ensure the voice of the child is heard? Will the foster care payment be maintained for fostered children who may be adopted? If the foster payment is maintained, the children involved will no longer need a social worker. Such persons could then be redeployed to front-line services where they are crucially needed.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As I have often said, the referendum is one aspect of our serious intentions to deliver on children’s rights and services. The broader issue is how we deliver services and available funding. That is why I was pleased to get the additional moneys last year, such as the extra €13 million to provide an early intervention family support system for all three and four year olds. The National Education Welfare Board got an extra €1 million as it is important we identify those children who are not attending school to ensure supports are made available to them at an early stage. The overall extra funding of €21 million I got from the Government went into the areas outlined by Deputy Troy.

I am focused on ensuring people are aware the referendum is happening and they have the information to understand its provisions. The Deputy is correct that various agencies such as the Adoption Authority will have extra work to do if the referendum is passed. It is also important we examine the reforms needed to deliver services more effectively. I have inherited a very inconsistent child protection service across the country. If we manage the reforms properly and provide a national service in which families are appropriately supported and receive, as the referendum states, proportionate intervention at an early stage, many cases will not become child protection issues. I have outlined my significant reform programmes with which the HSE is involved. The proper use of resources is key. There will be ongoing assessment of the level of demand for these services. All Departments are facing a very difficult financial situation. While my Department is not immune to this, with proper reform, services can be delivered more effectively.

Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Will Members be as tight as they can in their questioning, otherwise we will go out of time control?

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Will we have to be as tight as the Minister for Finance?