Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue. First, I acknowledge the Children's Rights Alliance gave the Government an "A" grade for the passage of the children's rights referendum. However, I wish to point out that the referendum was not just a Government initiative, but had the support of 165 of the 166 Deputies in this House, as well as the support of the Senators and many children's organisations. Furthermore, given the debacle over the Department's referendum website and leaflets, it could legitimately be argued that the Minister could have jeopardised the passage of this much-needed measure. However, it has passed and I welcome this development. I also note the Government gets a good mark in respect of education.

Nonetheless, there are areas for concern and in responding to the concerns I intend to raise, the Minister should concentrate his reply on them. Despite the "A" grade on the referendum, the overall grade for the Government has slipped and if ever a Government were to receive a high grade, it should be in the direct aftermath of the passage of this referendum. This is the first full year of a full Cabinet Minister for Children and Youth Affairs but it has seen a reduced overall rating, which hardly constitutes an endorsement of the Department and indicates to me that the Department is not working.

The key failing concerns child poverty, with budget 2013 continuing on the progressive social policies of the current Administration. Child protection was discussed at great length during the course of the referendum debate and surely protection from poverty is a key form of child protection. As the foreword to the report card states:

[the] Government’s successful – or unsuccessful – implementation of the Programme for Government fundamentally alters the climate in which children live and prosper. It plays an integral role as to whether a child thrives or wanes. The Government has the power to turn a series of events into a crisis, to escalate or de-escalate a problem. Budget 2013 is a good example of this. The Rollercoaster Budget ... including [the] cuts to the Child Benefit payment and the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, devastated families. Consequently, [the alliance] had no choice but to award the Government a FAIL – an ‘F’ grade on this issue.

In her introduction, the alliance's chief executive, Tanya Ward, goes on to state "cutting supports and services to vulnerable children and their families without any other reforms is short-sighted and will impact negatively on the lives of many vulnerable children and families". The blanket cuts across the board had a severe negative impact and it is worth noting that this blanket cut was carried out despite the fact that prior to the introduction of the Government's first budget, the Mangan progress report of November 2011 stated it "considers that the consequences of an uncompensated reduction in child benefit rates would be significant in terms of child poverty". The Mangan progress report made this point before the Government introduced such a cut in its first budget and in its second budget.

Health also is downgraded this year from a "C" grade to a "D" grade. In respect of primary care, there was an ongoing political debacle during 2012, slow progress in establishing primary care teams and the funding for GP care was reallocated to make up for other financial deficits in HSE. The positive steps in mental health were overshadowed by the fact that of the €35 million allocated, only approximately €6 million was spent. In respect of children with special education needs, that category also saw a downgrade from "C" to "D". This was to reflect the lack of action on the commitment to further the implementation of the EPSEN Act. This is despite the commitment in the programme for Government to publish a plan for the aforementioned Act's implementation. Moreover, the Government scored a grade of "E+" in respect of the right to equality and non-discrimination. This was as a result of the delayed reform of family law and a failure to address the inequalities faced by children of unmarried parents, children with single fathers, etc. In addition, little has been done to vindicate the rights of the Traveller communities and of migrant children.

In conclusion, it is true that many of the failings identified in this report fall outside the immediate departmental remit of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Nonetheless, there is a case to be made that she is lacking in influence, that the failings identified in this report show her advocacy for children to have been inadequate and that were it not for the passage of the referendum with the unanimous support of political parties and the children's rights agencies, the grade for this report would have been a great deal worse. I wish to hear the Minister outline how the Government will address the failings identified in this report with specific reference to the Government's failure to honour its own commitments in the programme for Government.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Troy for raising this issue and I am pleased to respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald. The Minister, who is the first such Minister at Cabinet level, is returning from Russia following discussions on the possibility of a bilateral agreement on inter-country adoption with the Russian Federation. I am disappointed with Deputy Troy's negativity regarding many issues relating to children and his questioning of the existence of the Department itself.

Members will be aware that the Children's Rights Alliance, CRA, is a coalition of more than 100 organisations working to secure the rights of children in Ireland by campaigning for the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The most recognised piece of stand-alone work in recent years has been the children's rights report card series, which examines the Government's performance or non-performance in respect of its own commitments to children in the areas of education, health, material well-being and safeguarding childhood. The CRA published its annual report card, Report Card 2013, on Monday last. This is the fifth edition of its annual report card series. Report Card 2013 evaluates the Government on its progress during 2012 in meeting its commitments to children as set out in the 2011 programme for Government. It is awarded an overall "C" grade. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has positive working relationship with the CRA and the wider NGO body it represents. The CRA is represented on a number of committees relating to the work programme of the Department and the Government's wider programme of work for children and young people. The Department provided information to the CRA on many of the items that relate to its specific areas of responsibility and this is reflected in the final report.

Overall, the grades reflective of the work of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are positive, such as an overall grade "B" for the activities covered by chapter 5, and in a number of cases demonstrate improvements on previous years. This is reflective of the priority attaching to this issue both in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and across Government, as articulated in the programme for Government. Notably, the Government was awarded an "A" grade in respect of the children's referendum. I wish to thank Deputy Troy for his party's support on that matter. It had not been put to the people previously and one might wonder why.

I now wish to comment on some of the different areas referred to in the CRA report card that relate specifically to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The child and family support agency is at the heart of the Government's reform of child and family services. The Government has decided that child welfare and protection services will transfer from the Health Service Executive to this new agency. It has also decided that the services of the family support agency will similarly transfer. The establishment of a single agency incorporating key children's services will provide a focus for the major reforms already under way. The agency, upon establishment, will assume full statutory responsibility for a range of child and family services currently provided by three separate agencies; namely, the HSE, the family support agency and the National Educational Welfare Board.

Last July saw the publication of the report of the task force on the establishment of the child and family support agency. Following consideration of the task force's detailed recommendations, the Government in November approved the general scheme and heads of the Bill. Drafting of the legislation to establish the agency in line with the general scheme is at an advanced stage. This will be comprehensive legislation, providing as it does for subsuming functions from three separate agencies and assigning onerous responsibilities regarding the care and protection of children and the promotion of their welfare. Subject to finalisation and approval by Government, it is the Minister's intention to present the legislation to the Oireachtas during the current term. When established, the agency will constitute one of the largest public agencies in the State with staff of more than 4,000 employees and a budget of more than €550 million. It represents one the largest and most ambitious areas of public sector reform currently under way.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I must inform the Minister that just one minute remains to him to conclude his lengthy reply.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Minister has asked me to convey a number of points to the House on this matter. I refer to her activities since assuming responsibility for the children detention system in January 2012.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has worked with her colleagues in Government on a range of actions to improve conditions for children in detention and in particular, to end the practice of detaining children in St. Patrick's Institution and to transfer them to Oberstown. She announced a capital investment package in April 2011 to achieve that in Lusk, County Dublin. This will result in sufficient capacity to extend the child care model of detention to all young people under the age of 18 years by mid 2014.

In consultation with her colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Minister extended the remit of the Ombudsman for Children from July 2012 to include all boys less than 18 years of age detained in St. Patrick's Institution. A number of other measures have yet to be implemented as part of the Government's programme and we look forward to working with the Children's Rights Alliance and other NGOs to achieve those objectives.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge and welcome the positives in the report but the overall C grade awarded to the Government is a slip on the grade it achieved last year. This happened in a year we had for the first time a full Minister with responsibility for child and youth affairs sitting at the Cabinet table. Why is that? The slip would have been much worse were it not for the passage of the children's referendum, which had cross party support and the support of NGOs and the Children's Rights Alliance. The Minister did not once mention child poverty, for which the Government was given a fail, or mental health issues. He referred to the new child and family support agency, the establishment of which we support. The legislation to put the agency on a statutory footing was meant to be passed by December 2012. We have yet to see the heads of this important Bill, let alone have it pass through the Oireachtas. The Minister also referred to the Children First guidelines. The heads of the Bill relating to them were brought before the joint committee last May but the legislation has yet to come before the Houses to be implemented. The Minister, with all due respect, is not up to her job. She is not the advocate of children's right she should be. The greatest issue of all is the inability of the Government to keep children out of poverty. It is a sad reflection and it is a very poor reflection on the Minister that he has not even acknowledged this in his contribution.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the most effective way to get any individual out of poverty is to provide employment. The pattern of difficult decisions the Government has had to make arising from the legacy we inherited from his party has made it enormously difficult to ensure we have an expanding domestic economy because of the measures that have had to be take to deal with our public finances. Child and adult poverty are linked to the provision of jobs and I look forward to working with the Deputy to ensure we increase economic activity arising from recent decision made by the European Central Bank and the Government to give us breathing space on the financial side.

Child benefit rates have been reduced, as they were by Fianna Fáil in 2010 when times got difficult in the context of our public finances. The increases of previous times have been eroded but substantial support is still being given to children notwithstanding the difficult financial position.

The establishment of the child and family support agency will provide the focus the Deputy advocates. Mental health and other issues that have not been addressed yet will be dealt with over the next year in the context of legislation. I explained where the suite of legislation is at. The principal legislation will be published this session and I look forward to the Deputy's support for it.