Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the progress which has been made in Ireland in giving effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. I recently had the honour of representing Ireland at the United Nations committee hearing on Ireland's second report on the implementation of the Convention which took place in Geneva last month. At the time of the submission of the first report in 1998 Ireland was subjected to considerable criticism but on this occasion the atmosphere of the committee was cordial. The hearing took place last month. The concluding observations of the committee were published on 29 September last and I am glad to say it endorsed the progress made by the Government on issues affecting children in this country over the last decade.

During the past ten years we have witnessed an extraordinary period of change in Ireland. It has been one of the most rapid and sustained periods of economic growth ever measured in an OECD country. This wealth has allowed us to make badly needed investment in many areas and, in particular, in infrastructure, health services, education and income support. The aim of the Government has been to translate our new found economic success into positive social change. I think everyone will agree that much progress has been made on children's issues since Ireland submitted its first report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and it was the extent of this progress which was at issue at the hearing in Geneva.

The United Nations committee welcomed Ireland's comprehensive second report as well as the detailed replies to the list of issues which provide further information on the position of children in the State. The committee further noted with appreciation the fruitful and open dialogue which took place with the Irish State delegation.

I was pleased to be addressing the committee as Ireland's first Minister for Children who sits at the Cabinet table. This ensures that the interests of children are taken into account in an unprecedented manner across all areas of Government. The establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children also brings together key Government officials to work in a co-ordinated and integrated manner to deliver the best possible services for children and this was noted by the committee in its concluding observations.

The committee also singled out for special mention the adoption of new legislation and policy by the Government which improved the lives of children such as the Equal Status Act 2000; the Education (Welfare Act) 2000; the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002; the National Children's Strategy; the National Play Policy and the review of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy to name but a few. The committee welcomed in particular two key measures which have advanced the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely, the establishment of the National's Children Office, which has now been subsumed into the Office of the Minister for Children; and the appointment of the Ombudsman for Children in 2004. I intend to speak in detail on these issues later.

The United Nations committee hearings provide a useful opportunity for us to measure our progress and take stock of what has been achieved and identify priorities for the next stage of our development. As I acknowledged to the committee in Geneva, although there have been huge advances made in the position of children during the last ten years in Ireland, there are areas which need further development and investment. The United Nations committee highlighted some areas where further progress could be made such as advancing the rights of the child in the Constitution, a continued focus on the issue of child poverty, progressing the implementation of plans for mental health services for children and access to health care services generally. While the committee supported the changes under way in the area of juvenile justice, it had some reservations on which it sought reassurance.

The Government will use these observations to help decide our priorities as we work to improve the lives of children in Ireland going forward. The Government will not see suggestions by the United Nations committee as stones being thrown, but rather as building bricks that can be added to the foundations already laid in Ireland for improving children's lives. This is the purpose of the examination process under Article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As I stated previously, the committee welcomed the publication of the National Children's Strategy, the most significant measure in progressing the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Ireland to date. The committee noted with appreciation the over-arching principles of the strategy, the goals set out in the strategy and the broad based co-operation and public consultations including with non-governmental organisations and academics. It urged us to review progress to date and advance implementation of the strategy with specific timeframes.

I am pleased to say that a mid-term review has already been undertaken by the National Children's Advisory Council at my request. Its recommendations have led to the development of a focused cross-departmental business plan for 2007. This work is well under way and is being led by my Office. In addition, provisions in Towards 2016 for new structures at national and local level will underpin this central Government level initiative. Nominations have already been sought for the national implementation group and I hope that the group and the first of the HSE led children's committees will be up and running early next year.

The committee noted that a number measures have been undertaken by the Office of the Minister for Children to promote respect for the views of the child, including through its work in assisting the establishment of children and youth parliaments and student councils in post-primary schools. In addition, the office consults regularly with children in its work and is also engaged in re-educating and producing tools to support a wider engagement with children as active participants in their own lives. I presented a short study undertaken on children and young people's views on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for the hearing in Geneva entitled "How we see it". I was pleased to report that the findings demonstrated that the majority of young people surveyed are aware of their rights under the United Nations convention and are also aware that those rights need to be asserted more fully.

The committee remarked on the progress made with regard to the collection of statistical data on children, and in particular to the research function of the National Children's Office, now part of the Office of the Minister for Children. We are adopting a systematic and incremental approach to the development of systems to improve the collection, disaggregation and analysis of data on children's lives. Reference is made in the State's report to the work already being supported by the Office of the Minister for Children to improve research and data on children.

The most recent social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, commits the Government to continuing to undertake research and data development to assist good policy formulation. Central to this is the National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland. It aims to provide the database for a comprehensive understanding of Irish children's development in the current social, economic and cultural environment. It will become a major element of the evidence base for policy and practice regarding children and their families. Some 18,000 children will be included in this study — a cohort of 10,000 infants aged nine months and a cohort of 8,000 nine-year-olds.

The first phase of this study spans approximately seven years and during that time there will be two data collection sweeps of the birth cohort, at age nine months and three years, and two of the nine year cohort, at age nine and 13. Longitudinal data are essential and will inform answers to the questions facing policy-makers and researchers today.

On the issue of disseminating and making known the convention among relevant authorities and the public at large, the committee noted with appreciation the dissemination of the convention in conjunction with the strategy. The awareness campaigns of the Office of the Minister for Children, as well as that of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, including through their respective web pages, were also noted. The establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children was particularly welcomed given its role in promoting children and young people's rights and investigating complaints by children against public organisations, schools or hospitals in addition to its research and policy functions.

The committee acknowledged and welcomed the efforts undertaken by the State to respond to the issue of child abuse and neglect through the creation of guidelines on reporting child abuse, through investigations of all reported cases of child abuse and through the launching of a nationwide awareness-raising campaign on child sexual abuse. One of the measures the committee recommended to improve maters in this area was the evaluation of all employees and volunteers working with children. I was pleased to announce this week that Garda vetting is being extended to all staff, students and volunteers in crèches, nurseries and other preschool services from next January. Senators will be aware that there has been a steady roll-out over the past few months to huge tranches of staff working with children. The Garda vetting unit has been given significant additional staff numbers to deal with demands in this area.

I noted with some concern that there appears to be a confusion in the mind of Members between the functions of the Garda vetting unit and the sex offenders' register. The sex offenders' register is currently maintained in a paper format at the Garda domestic violence and sexual assault unit in Harcourt Square. The register essentially constitutes a list of those persons convicted of sexual offences.

The Garda central vetting unit, based in Thurles, County Tipperary, is responsible for performing child protection vetting upon request from recruiting organisations. In the vetting process it is obviously vital that any person with a conviction for sexual offences is identified as having such a criminal history. The key point is that the central vetting unit already has full electronic access to this criminal history information via the Garda PULSE computer. In other words, the Garda central vetting unit already has all the information at its disposal to vet persons, including full access to the criminal records of persons who have been convicted of sexual offences. The fact that such a person, by virtue of a criminal record, is also on the sex offenders' register is neither here nor there from a vetting perspective. Accordingly, there is no requirement for the Garda central vetting unit to cross-check information with the sex offenders' register as the key point is that the Garda central vetting unit will know immediately directly from the computer system that the person has a criminal history involving sexual offences.

The sex offenders' register is designed by statute to provide gardaí with the means to monitor convicted sex offenders. It is not, nor has it ever been, intended as a public disclosure tool. There are plans to computerise this register as it is currently paper based. Of course, under the relevant legislation, persons who have committed equivalent crimes overseas are obliged to disclose their existence and their residence within the State to the Garda for inclusion on the sex offenders' register. I have asked the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to request the Garda to examine whether information obtained in this way can be transmitted to the central vetting unit, since some such persons would not have a conviction within this jurisdiction.

The vetting requirement is one of a number of measures in the revised child care regulations which were announced on Monday. The regulations will cover all preschool centres where there are more than three children being looked after. As well as the garda vetting, preschool providers will have to check employment references for new staff and get references from reputable sources for all students and volunteers.

The committee also welcomed the establishment of the Social Services Inspectorate, which conducts inspections on foster care and residential centres operated by statutory and non-statutory agencies for children without parental care. I also reported on the re-balancing and readjustment of services towards early intervention and support for families in order to reduce the number who may become dependent on State care. Intensive prevention and early intervention community based services which have been put in place include the youth advocacy programme pilot projects and the teen parent support initiative. I am pleased to report that since 1997, the Government has increased the annual provision for child care services by more than €200 million in real terms and has invested in excess of €60 million in capital projects.

The committee made recommendations in a number of areas where Ireland could do better. One of particular interest was the committee's reference to the need to strengthen children's rights in the Constitution. I explained to the committee that the power to change our Constitution rests with the people alone. I stressed that time and again the people of Ireland have demonstrated their strong attachment to our Constitution by rejecting Government proposals to change it. I am currently engaged in an examination on an Article by Article basis of the provisions of the Constitution as they impact on children. This work is well under way and will be completed very soon. I am determined that a formula will be devised whereby the best interests of children will prevail in matters which affect them and which will at the same time meet with the approval of the people.

While welcoming recent changes in the youth justice system, the committee criticised the decision to make children from the age of ten upwards criminally responsible in the case of murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault. Legislation, due to come into effect on 16 October, will raise the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 12 in all but the most serious cases of murder, rape and aggravated sexual assault and will contain a number of protections for all offenders. However, I wish to make it clear that proceedings against children between ten and 14 years will require the consent of the DPP and the courts will have the power to dismiss a case against a child under 14 years, where it determines that the child did not have a full understanding of what was involved in the commission of the offence. Furthermore, it is very unusual for these offences to be committed by children. Nonetheless, it is my firm view that victims of these most serious of offences must be assured that justice is seen to be done.

It would not be possible to cover all of the issues raised by the committee, but I hope I have given Members a sense of the recommendations. The committee clearly acknowledged the progress made for children in Ireland over the past decade and acknowledged that children and young people are higher on the Government agenda than ever before.

We can make improvements and the UN committee's recommendations will inform our priorities for children in the future. The process of reporting progress and benchmarking where we are with regard to improving children's lives is useful and keeps a focus on the goal that Government, non-statutory bodies and parents all desire — a successful and happy childhood for our children.