Mary Henry (Independent)

As Senators O'Toole and Ormonde have mentioned, I am alarmed by the development of these newly certified types of child protection officers. We should inject urgency into this matter and ask the Minister for Education and Science into the House to explain the position these officers will take up, if any, in schools. Will this be in a paid or a voluntary capacity? We should investigate this as we have gone through a traumatic time in this country with regard to child sexual abuse. Initiatives which may appear beneficial could be quite harmful in the long term.

I support Senator Ulick Burke's call for a debate on the report by the Irish Prison Service on the mentally ill in prison. It has not yet been published but it appears that these cases are even worse than we all believed. I am sure Senators know there is a special area in Mountjoy Prison where mentally ill and intellectually incapacitated people are held. It is incredible that in 2005 we have a special area in one of our oldest prisons devoted to minding these people, who should not be in the facility at all. Many of these people are imprisoned because of petty crimes. These issues are not politically biased, and as soon as the report becomes available we should debate them in the House.

There should be a sense of urgency surrounding the issue of child protection officers.