Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the legislation she will introduce between now and the summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17523/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As I have said in response to a previous question, the legislative priorities for this Dáil session are to introduce the child and family agency Bill, which is substantial legislation taking up a considerable amount of time and resources in my Department, and to finalise a revised general scheme and heads for the Children First Bill.

Drafting of the legislation to establish the child and family agency is progressing and the work is at an advanced stage. It will be brought to Government shortly for approval prior to publication. That will ensure we have the new agency under way and fulfil the Government commitment to establish a dedicated agency. It is a very complicated Bill bringing together the three agencies as I have outlined. I want to allow adequate time for consultation within this House and with stakeholders.

We have been examining the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on the Children First Bill and many operational and legal issues arise from the committee’s work. The committee suggested there should be as much consistency as possible between the Children First Bill and other recent legislation, including the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, which was passed by the Oireachtas in December. I have recently completed consultations with key experts in the child welfare and protection area on the Children First Bill. I held a consultation process after the committee completed its work and I held a further one recently. My Department has also liaised closely with officials in the Department of Justice and Equality, particularly those responsible for the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act. Officials are refining the proposed policy approach for submission to Government shortly. This will involve revision of the general scheme and heads of Bill and referral to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for drafting.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister's confirmation, but both Bills have been promised repeatedly. The child and family support agency Bill was to be with us before Christmas, as was the Children First legislation. Both Bills were in section A of the Government's spring legislative programme and again the Minister is saying they will be dealt with during this term. She will forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical. I appreciate that both Bills are vast and need considerable time. To be fair, we have had many promises but little delivery with regard to this legislation.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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A question please Deputy.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The lack of progress, in particular with regard to the Children First legislation, leaves children vulnerable. Only yesterday a report in The Irish Times cited a 20% increase in the number of care orders in the past year. There is a concern that the absence of the Children First legislation means we do not have a proper framework for reporting with regard to child protection. The Minister stated with regard to the Children First Bill that NGOs and experts are being consulted. Will Members of the Oireachtas be consulted before the revised heads of the Bill are published? I would like to think we will.

I welcome that Norah Gibbons has been appointed to the child and family support agency. She is very well suited and has renowned skills in the area and this is not to be questioned. However, it seems unreasonable to appoint a chairperson to a board for which legislation has not yet been formed. Why is the word "support" being dropped from the agency's title? I understand it will now be known as the child and family agency. Is this because the emphasis will not be on family support?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that much work has been done on both pieces of legislation. I have already outlined clearly how much work has been done with regard to the child and family agency, at an organisational level and into drafting the legislation. The legislation will have more than 100 heads and is extremely complex. The Attorney General and Parliamentary Counsel have been doing much work on it along with the Department. We will have it during this Dáil term.

With regard to Children First, I have outlined the issues which have arisen. We received a very complex 600 page report from the committee. With regard to children being at risk at present, I want to make it very clear that the Children First guidelines are in operation and very clear guidance is being given with regard to assessing cases when they come to the child protection teams. For the first time HIQA is examining child protection standards, which I welcome, and I understand four reports have been done. The reports we receive in the coming weeks and months will give a precise picture of what is happening in child protection teams throughout the country. I do not underestimate the scale of the challenges facing these teams but it should be helped by the fact that extra social workers are now in place and HIQA is pointing out very clearly the areas where improvement is needed as well as those areas working well.

With regard to the name of the agency, it was felt it would be less confusing to leave out the word "support" as this could be misunderstood with regard to the Department of Social Protection. This is the only reason. As I already stated, family support is very important and goes hand in hand with child protection.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I also welcome the fact that HIQA is now conducting investigations. It is very important. We have had four reports, one of which unfortunately highlighted vast areas of improvement required in the north-west Dublin area. It is to be welcomed that this has been identified and I hope serious action is being taken in this regard.

Members of the Oireachtas have not had an opportunity to feed into the new child and family agency with regard to the heads of the Bill. In an earlier reply to my colleague, the Minister stated her office will contact us and I welcome this. Is the legal action with regard to the validity of the children's referendum impinging on the Department's ability to bring forward this much promised and important legislation? The original heads of the Children First Bill were published on 25 April 2012, which is almost 12 months ago. There has been an unnecessary delay.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that a very significant amount of work has been done with regard to Children First and the agency, and this work is ongoing.

Those are two priority Bills for us and we are working on them. I have already explained that I am linking with the Department of Justice and Equality on the Children First legislation and ensuring coherence between the Vetting Bill and the Children First legislation. There are many issues involved including asking organisations to have complex responses on how to be ready to implement Children First on a statutory basis. For example, the question has arisen about the size of the organisation that will have to fulfil those conditions. It has taken an awful lot of work to begin to tease that out.

My own office has been in contact with Deputy Troy and Deputy Ó Caoláin to offer consultation and I am happy to include the Children First legislation in that consultation. We will be discussing it on Friday also.