Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the child-related issues he will address prior to the examination on 14 January 2016 by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child of Ireland's progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42774/15]

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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What child-related issues will the Minister address prior to the examination on 14 January 2016 by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child of Ireland's progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that preparations for Ireland's examination by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on 14 January 2016 are a priority for my Department. I am actively engaged in these preparations and looking forward to leading Ireland's delegation and engaging positively with the UN committee on developments in Ireland in the observance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child since the last such examination took place in 2006. In the meantime, I intend to advance a number of key issues. In particular, I want to maximise the progress I can make on a number of legislative measures that are nearing completion. Parliamentary time is already scheduled to complete all Stages of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill in December to provide for a statutory right to an aftercare plan. The Bill has passed Second Stage in the House and we will take Committee and Report Stages tomorrow.

Following completion of all Stages of the Children First Bill, I want to progress towards commencement of particular sections of the Bill at the earliest opportunity. In particular, I want to consider the provisions that remove the common law defence of reasonable chastisement in cases of corporal punishment.

I have a received the report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme and heads of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015. I want to examine the report in detail and use it to inform the draft Bill.

I hope to finalise and sign the early years (pre-school) regulations and my Department is working closely with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in this regard.

I intend to consult stakeholders on matters relating to the Gender Recognition Act, while regulations are also being prepared on entries in the register of inter-country adoptions.

The Deputy will be aware that a considerable number of child-related issues are being addressed, not only by the Department but also across government, in the context of the national policy framework for children and young people 2014 to 2020, Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures. The framework involves a whole-of-government approach. My Department is actively leading in the implementation of this ambitious framework. In this context, we are working in close collaboration with the better outcomes advisory council in the identification and advancement of its work programme. This will inform consideration of cross-sectoral priorities for 2016 which will be proposed by the high level sponsors group that will meet later this week, on 4 December.

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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I certainly welcome the range of issues the Minister intends to address prior to the UN committee meeting and I hope the legislative process will be finalised before then. I very much welcome what is being done on the issue of corporal punishment. We are well aware that the State has taken no steps to implement the UN committee's recommendation that there be a comprehensive legal prohibition on corporal punishment. The common law defence of reasonable chastisement to a charge of assault remains in place. It is incredible that corporal punishment was banned in schools in 1982 but that it is still acceptable in the home. It is wide open to several forms of abuse, which is not right and proper in this day and age. In 2014 Childline received 7,365 calls from children about physical violence, of which 1,500 were about a real and present danger to children. We need to secure changes in advance of our appearance before the UN committee in January.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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It was in 1982 that the late John Boland, a predecessor of mine from Dublin North, as Minister for Education, signed the instrument to ban it in schools, although the law did not change until some time afterwards.

The Revised Estimates Volume for 2016 which is being published today will confirm the significant additional resources secured in budget 2016 to deal with child related issues. In my Department these include an additional €85 million for a child care package and €38 million in additional funding for Tusla to place it on a firm financial footing and enable it to meet its obligations to children. Furthermore, through a Supplementary Estimate which will be considered by the Dáil select sub-committee tomorrow, 3 December, we aim to secure further moneys to allow Tusla to address legacy issues and over-runs from this year.

In accordance with the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, I hope to receive Tusla's draft business plan for 2016. I have recently issued my performance statement to Tusla outlining the areas I would like to see addressed, with particular attention on the measures for which additional financial resources have been secured.

Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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There is one area on which we are still falling down and where there is huge neglect regarding children and I hope we can do something about it in the short to medium term. This is the situation where children are continuing to experience difficulties in accessing primary and community health services, as the Minister is aware. There is a major problem with regard to waiting times for essential services for children, including orthodontics, occupational and speech and language therapy, autism services and community psychological services. There are gaps and huge delays in the provision of these services for children. They often require a multidisciplinary approach, involving a number of specialised services. We will have to change our approach to the need for all the aforementioned services and to develop a proper community and primary care service and deliver in a timely fashion.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am not the Minister for Health but I know from talking to him and from being at Cabinet meetings that there are considerable additional funds for health this year. In fairness to this Government, we have brought in free GP care for all children under six and made a commitment to bring it in for all children under 12. That is to be welcomed. In respect of primary care, when I last checked, we were still opening a new primary care centre at a rate of one per month, which is quite an achievement given the recession we have just been through.

I agree with the Deputy that most care should be given in primary care facilities and that we need community facilities for children in particular. I also agree that we need early intervention, particularly when it comes to speech and language therapy and behaviour therapy, to pick up problems early and to get the best outcomes for our children. What we all desire for our children is that they be afforded the opportunity to realise their full potential, whatever that potential might be. That is all any parent asks, that their child has the best chance in life.

This Government has done a great deal of work in this regard, with the first full-time Minister, a new Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the children's referendum, the new child care package we have put in place and the removal of the defence of reasonable chastisement. We have made a great deal of progress during a very difficult period. For the first time, the Government and the people have acknowledged in a real way that the dark past of which we have all become aware in respect of how our children were treated has come to an end and now we seek to continue to improve their opportunities because when we improve their opportunities, we improve our society as a whole.