Results 1,921-1,940 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Written Answers — Foster Care: Foster Care (1 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Foster Care: Foster Care (1 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Education Welfare Service: Education Welfare Service (1 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) was established under The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework which promotes regular school attendance and tackles the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the Board are to ensure that every child...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As the Deputy will be aware, I have responsibility for the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 (EOCP) and the National Investment Programme 2006-2010 (NCIP), which are being implemented by the Office of the Minister for Children. I understand that the Group in question has been approved total capital grant assistance of €1,507,384 under the EOCP, in respect of a proposal to...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If the Senator speaks on amendment No. 1, I will deal with the matter he has raised in my response to him.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will deal with that.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I have considered carefully the amendments which have been tabled by Senators Browne and Henry, which propose to reduce the period of time for which a child should be in the continuous care of a foster parent or relative before a court order can be sought. The requirement in the Bill that a child be in the care of a foster parent or relative for a continuous period of five years is...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not well disposed to that suggestion. One of the great difficulties regarding foster placements is that difficulties tend to arise in the categories with older children. That a person aged 13 to 16, for example, was in a stable relationship with a foster parent or relative carer does not guarantee they will remain so at age 17. Unfortunately there are many examples of this in the system.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I accept the spirit in which Senator Browne tabled this amendment, but the children in question are in the care of the State. The State has accepted responsibility for these children; the State, not the parents, has gone to the District Court to obtain an order. The children are in the care of the State, through the Health Service Executive, which we all know and love so well. We cannot lose...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am prepared to revisit this issue. There are sections in the 1991 legislation which use the same formula as this legislation, where a person having custody or acting in loco parentis for the child is the person who is put on notice. That, however, is in the context of interim and emergency applications. I am not prepared to stand over this section and I see merit in the points that have...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We should be aware of a circumstance where a child is abandoned and taken into foster care. There are circumstances where it is impracticable in any context to contact the original parent. I will examine the issue and come back to Senators about it.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I understand the spirit of the amendment because it makes sense but it is not addressed in a practical way. Each foster child has a care plan and that continues in force after the order is made. The issue raised by the Senator is, therefore, addressed through the care plan, which ensures a level of contact between the foster parents and the social workers. If I accepted the amendment this...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senators are making my argument as to the reason I settled on the period of five years in the first instance, namely, that parents are being extended trust and there was a demonstrated capacity to make decisions. People think of the annual visit to Torremolinos but there is no more important decision than a medical decision and it takes time for a parent to demonstrate a capacity to make that...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Section 37 of the Child Care Act 1991 relates to access to children in care. It provides that where a child is in the care of the Health Service Executive, either under a care order or otherwise, the executive will facilitate reasonable access to the child by the parents, any person acting in loco parentis or any person with a bona fide interest. It provides that a person who is dissatisfied...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not being kind to the Senator because I cannot find an amendment in his name which I am prepared to accept. The insertion of the expression "or otherwise" would not be appropriate because the Bill makes a fundamental distinction between the conditions which apply to the granting of an order under this section in respect of a child in voluntary care and a child in care under a care order....

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As I understand the position, the case the Senator outlines would be a private arrangement which stands outside the care system. This system relates to two categories, namely, persons taken into care or persons surrendered into care. The circumstances described by the Senator relate to a third category, one on which he touched in his Second Stage contribution. While there is a third category...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: While I accept the Senator's point, special consideration would not be given to a pre-existing period of voluntary custody in the event that a child became problematical. The reason is that if the child has become difficult, the State must measure the parent's capacity against the period of time the parent parented a difficult child. Therefore, we stick to the five-year period.

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Browne has raised an interesting question. It is normal in legislation not to address this issue. Whether a person is missing is a matter for the courts, not for primary legislation. If the proceedings are served on the relevant parties and they are missing, they will not show up at the court. We must give some guidance to the courts because it is a fact that quite a few foster...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I have already undertaken to address the issue of the parties who should be served with notice of the application. I note the wording relating to the discharge of the order follows the wording in the application. The amendment refers to persons who have a bona fide interest in the child's welfare. That is a vague formulation. I will take it into account in my review but I prefer to be more...

Seanad: Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (2 Nov 2006)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I should have dealt with that. Senator Browne raised it earlier and I would like to address it now. The amendments are very complex and they relate to the whole question under consideration. The Ferns amendments relate to two particular recommendations in the Ferns Report about which much work has been done by my own office and that of the Attorney General. The first recommendation deals with...