Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In spring 2023 a child poverty and well-being programme office was established in the Department of the Taoiseach. The programme office will focus on six areas: income assistance and joblessness; early learning and childcare; reducing the cost of education; family homelessness; consolidating and integrating public health, family and parental assistance, and well-being services; and enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty. These areas were selected because they are areas of interventions that have the potential to bring about significant change for children and families living in poverty.

The Government's vision is to make Ireland the best country in Europe in which to be a child. That is important not only because we want every child to be happy and well cared for but also because happy childhoods are the foundation of realising broader economic, environmental and social goals.

The role of the Department of the Taoiseach is to co-ordinate and focus Government action. In line with this, the purpose of the child poverty and well-being programme office is twofold: monitor specified policy commitments by Departments and their agencies and drive focused action; and undertake a number of strategic cross-Government initiatives that have the potential to increase the effectiveness of current and emerging measures to fight child poverty and promote child well-being. The programme office is now fully staffed and is currently working on a multi-annual programme plan.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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One of the glaring shortfalls in the child poverty and well-being programme office is the absence of a clear commitment to incorporate mental health in its stated remit. The number of children waiting on first-time appointments with child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, has increased by 112% under this Government's watch. Nationally, there is a record high of 4,513 children waiting for appointments with CAMHS. It is the first time the number has broken the 4,500 barrier. Of these young people, 747 have been waiting for more than a year. There are 72 beds in four inpatient CAMHS facilities, but only 51 of them are open. More than 15,000 children are waiting on primary care psychology appointments, with almost 6,000 waiting longer than a year. Jigsaw has 30-week waiting lists in some areas. No new resources were allocated in last year’s budget for early intervention in psychosis. Early intervention in psychosis is proven to reduce hospital admissions, relapses and crisis presentations. More than 700 children in mental health crisis presented to accident and emergency units last year.

At every stage, children are being failed by mental health services under the Government’s watch. We can all get bogged down in statistics, but behind each statistic I have set out is a young child with hopes, ambitions, dreams and a family. Under this Government, that child is being denied the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.

The impact of these delays on some children in poverty with intersectional needs can be catastrophic. People are understandably cynical about the new child poverty unit. Its work will be meaningless if it does not deliver for children measurably. How will the unit measure and monitor its targets and when will those targets be published?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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When the Taoiseach and I discussed this matter previously, he spoke about the engagement he would have with the Joint Committee on Autism’s report. We all know the issues that exist for parents and children who cannot get assessments and necessary therapies. The report makes 109 recommendations on creating a framework for autistic people to live in society, including the necessary cradle-to-the-grave supports. We are far from being at that point, though.

It is a question of trying to introduce the idea that, when services are needed, there is no wrong door. A number of officials from Scotland engaged with the committee. Scotland has a variation on CAMHS, with everything seemingly piped through it. It acted as a single place for parents, children and adults to go to. There is no wrong door. How do we bring that idea about? Will the Taoiseach update the House on what engagements he has had on this matter?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Today, Sr. Eilís Coe came to Leinster House to discuss with me and others the issue of child trafficking. It is a serious problem in Ireland. During the Taoiseach’s last trip to the USA, he said that human trafficking was not a particular issue in Ireland because our seas were so vast that people could not get here by small boats, but human trafficking is a significant problem in this State. It is happening in plain sight throughout the State. Indeed, Ireland is so bad that it is on a human trafficking watch list. Answers to our parliamentary questions show incredible figures. The number of unaccompanied minors coming to the State is extraordinarily high and approximately 60 of them are missing. They are incredibly vulnerable. Recent newspaper reports show that children who are in the State's care are being targeted by sexual predators. These children are suffering considerable damage. We are a great country for looking back at the damage that was done to people 30, 40 or 50 years ago, and we are right to be so, but here is a section of society – vulnerable children in the main – that is exploited significantly, mostly through sexual abuse. It is happening on the streets of towns and cities throughout the country.

I am asking the Taoiseach for a systemic response so that our teachers, nurses, doctors and gardaí are educated on what to look for in terms of child trafficking and exploitation.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. Regarding the report of the Joint Committee on Autism, I thank its members, including its Chair, Senator Carrigy. I intend to meet him one to one in the next couple of weeks to sit down, go through all of the recommendations and identify which ones we can make progress on quickly.

The “no wrong door” principle is a good one. How we achieve that, though, is not straightforward. When meeting families in Barnardo’s in Blanchardstown recently, there was a common thread to a lot of what they said to me - they got great help and great support in the end, but it was a tortuous road to find the right place and the right people to give them the support they needed. That stuck with me.

In terms of the targets for success of the new child poverty and well-being unit, we have identified a number of priority areas. We want, and I will ensure, that there is a strong child poverty and well-being theme in the budget in October. The areas we are going to prioritise are income supports, joblessness, early learning and childcare, further reducing the cost of education, family homelessness, consolidating and integrating family and parental support, health and well-being, and enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for all children and young people, including those affected by poverty. We believe that investment in these areas will reduce child poverty and raise well-being. Increasing income supports and helping to reduce joblessness will boost incomes for poorer families. Support for early learning and childcare will facilitate parental employment by reducing the cost of such care. Reducing the cost of education will play a role in reducing outgoings for families with children. I am very pleased that free schoolbooks in primary schools will be a reality in September. That is just one example, as is the extension of the hot school meals programme.

Work has already been carried out in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to identify the amount of its expenditure that is dedicated to children. The methodology developed through this work is now being extended to six other Departments with a high level of expenditure benefiting children. These are the Departments of Education, Health, Social Protection, Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Justice, and Rural and Community Development. That work will represent a solid basis for further progress when it comes to establishing the total amount of expenditure dedicated to children and its positive effects. As I said earlier, I intend that budget 2024 will have child poverty and well-being as one of its major themes.

Regarding human trafficking, which was raised by Deputy Tóibín, I want to acknowledge that human trafficking happens in Ireland. We have specific legislation around it. We do not have the boats arriving in the way they do in Britain, southern Europe and other places, but one does not need a boat to engage in human trafficking in Ireland. It is done in other ways. It is very hard to measure, of course, because it largely involves criminal activity and, therefore, has to be detected.

I do want to comment, though, on the recent study by UCD, which makes for disturbing reading, on sexual predators targeting children in care. I want to say very clearly that no child should be at risk of exploitation. The work to raise awareness and tackle child exploitation is a priority for the Government. It is a very valuable study, which, as the authors point out, is not a prevalence study, but a qualitative study drawing on 21 interviews with practitioners as well as consultations with staff in the Garda and Tusla. It does not seek to quantify the extent to which this occurs in Ireland.

The authors suggest that the research should be understood as a scoping study that takes an initial and important first step that is hoped will provide awareness of sexual exploitation of children and young people in Ireland. Their aim is for the study to inform future research as well as policy and practice recommendations.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is working closely with senior management in Tusla on the subject of child sexual exploitation and will prioritise a review of the findings of this scoping study and its recommendations for further action. A close liaison into the study's findings will also take place by Tusla with An Garda Síochána.

Significant advances have been made in recent times to crack down on child sexual exploitation. In 2021, for example, Tusla implemented its new child exploitation procedure in partnership with An Garda Síochána to assist Tusla staff in recognising and reporting cases where there may well be a risk of child exploitation for sexual purposes. The joint working protocol between Tusla and An Garda Síochána forms a critical part of the responses to child abuse and neglect, particularly in relation to child sexual exploitation. In addition to this, Tusla has a full-time seconded principal social worker assigned and based in the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, GNPSB, and has established an anti-trafficking working group in readiness for the Department of Justice's national action plan to prevent and combat trafficking of human beings, which includes the area of child exploitation.

At all times, training and practices in relation to tackling child sexual exploitation are under review, and as part of this, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth will prioritise a review of the findings of this scoping study and its recommendations in the immediate period ahead.