Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and congratulate him on his reappointment. There is no real disagreement on this important topic. The points raised are universal. There is a need for greater psychiatric care for troubled children. The recent case of a child being murdered for his mobile telephone proved that point. There was perhaps a psychiatric difficulty. It is vital appropriate resources are given where needed. The child care Act was enacted in 2001, but I am not sure what progress has been made in three years. A substantial section still remains. How wise is it to have it spread across three Departments? It must be hard to administer. I am not sure if there is a solution but it is an issue worth bearing in mind.

Teachers have no difficulty in identifying the children in their class who have behavioural difficulties. The problem is getting the necessary help for those children. The idea of the former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, of introducing standardised testing is concerned mainly with the identification of learning difficulties but is connected with the issue of behavioural difficulties. Such a measure will achieve nothing because we already know the children who need help. The issue is what teachers should do when they know there is a child in their class who has either learning or psychological difficulties. Invariably, it takes a year or two for such a child to be assessed and to receive the necessary help. This is where the difficulty lies.

I am aware of one 12 year old who was brought to the Garda station in Carlow by his mother because he was so drunk. It is terrifying to imagine. He has been picked up in the town on numerous occasions by gardaí, sometimes for verbally abusing teachers. When one imagines a 12 year old, one pictures a small, angelic creature but, unfortunately, this is not always the case.

I have been reading reports in the newspapers of cases in the children's court; it is depressing reading. Last September, one quarter of cases in the children's court in Dublin had to be adjourned because of the absence of juvenile defendants' parents. This sends the wrong signal and must be rectified immediately. Three of the four convicted of the horrific gang rape in County Limerick were on bail at the time of the crime. The ring-leader should have been in jail as he was less than half way through a three-year prison term. He had absconded several times from different detention places, including Oberstown in Lusk from which he was released because of a shortage of beds. He was returned there when his criminal behaviour continued only to abscond a number of times before being sent in 2003 to Trinity House for more serious offences. He absconded from there after threatening staff with a screw driver. It was after that he was involved in the rape.

This is a consequence of the breakdown of services. As a teacher, I was not confident that social services would deal properly with children whose difficulties I reported to them. In one case, the social services were asked to investigate when pupils from one family were missing school on a regular basis. We received no reply and, upon inquiry, learned that social services staff had visited the pupils' houses but, finding nobody there, had taken no action. The social services must follow through on queries in order to prevent a disastrous situation such as that in Limerick. I am aware of the case of a father who is in court pleading for psychiatric care for his 17 year old daughter who was released by the social services when she was 14. This family is in a desperate situation, having acknowledged there is a problem but without receiving the help it requires and deserves.

The important issue is early intervention, which has been a common theme in the House today. Other countries have considered the efficacy of open detention centres versus closed prisons and most Members would welcome this approach of seeking to rectify the problem rather than creating a more serious one down the line. The idea of a children's prison in St. Patrick's Institution is a cause of concern to some people. The Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea, got some cheap publicity from this area during his time as Minister of State by speaking of curfews and parents of vandals being made to pay fines. In reality, there has been one case in the past few years in this area so words have not been matched by actions. Many judges are apparently quite confused as to the powers they possess and they have not implemented the law as it currently stands. I am sure the current Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, with his legal background knows more about this than me. If it is the case that judges are not implementing the law as it stands, something must be done to rectify it. If the law is weak, it should be fundamentally strengthened.

There are many issues to consider, one of which is housing for children in view of recent reports which indicate that some children live in dire housing. An issue brought to my attention in September is the back to school footwear and clothing allowance. This is a simple scheme which has been underspent by €4 million this year. I am not surprised by this as the limits have not been changed for 11 years which means that many people do not qualify. Parents who urgently need money to prepare their children for school are getting off to a bad start. I understand that many health boards have also underspent in many of their areas. This would normally be good news but it is worrying that health boards are underspending with regard to key welfare payments because it means people are not getting the benefits to which they are entitled. The Minister of State should review the limits even before the budget and investigate whether the health boards are underspending in key areas. If so, the threshold should be raised. I ask him to consider the clothing and footwear scheme in particular because it is causing hardship and preventing children from making a good start to the school year.