Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Senator Daly.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, to the House. I am delighted to speak on this debate. As the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, mentioned, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1998. Ireland signed up to the convention in September 1990 and ratified it in September 1992.

I am delighted the convention has a built-in mechanism designed to monitor the progress of states in fulfilling their obligations following ratification. In other words, we are not going to get away lightly. We cannot say we are doing something when we do not do it, as we are being tracked and monitored.

Under Article 44, Ireland and other states are required to submit a progress report. We are required not alone to report on legislative and judicial measures but also to report on administrative and other measures taken to implement the convention. As we know, Ireland submitted its second progress report in July 2005. That has been widely reported on and discussed. In compiling this report the Government and the National Children's Office consulted widely with the NGO sector, particularly those interested in the welfare of children. In addition, the NGO sector submitted a separate shadow report to the United Nations committee. The report illustrated how the lives of children have been improved since the examination of Ireland's first report to the committee and acknowledged areas where further progress was required.

Before I reached the office this morning I heard on the radio that with the increase in child benefit a large percentage of children had been taken out of the poverty net and are no longer on the poverty threshold. That is encouraging. Child poverty was an area of concern in the recommendations from the United Nations.

The UN committee held its hearing into the second report on 20 September in Geneva. As we all know, the Irish delegation was headed by the Minister for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan. The UN reported back on 29 September and I am glad its report is positive, which means our report was well received by them.

It is fair to say Ireland is in a very strong position internationally in regard to children's affairs in general and especially in the area of child safety. It is only 14 years since September 1992 when we ratified the UN convention yet a great deal of progress has taken place. We now have an Ombudsman for Children, the National Children's Office and a dedicated Minister for children. Other Senators have referred to Dáil na nÓg, the special Parliament for children. Two of my daughters participated in this when they were in secondary school. It gave them an insight into how local government and the national Parliament operates.

I am a member of the Joint Committee on Child Protection. The committee was set up following the CC case last May. We have met several different groups. Yesterday the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan, appeared before the committee. It was interesting to hear her views, aspirations and concerns. Her aspirations and concerns almost exactly reflect the recommendations made by the UN committee, namely, the need to see the child as an individual rights holder and the constitutional change that is needed to enact this. It is possible that the constitutional change will come about more quickly as a result of the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Child Protection.

Ireland is not without its problems or worries but compared to other countries we are much more advanced in regard to child safety and child protection than, for example, countries like Thailand. A couple of weeks ago The Sunday Tribune did a very good article on teenage sex trafficking and child prostitution. I was saddened to see that Ireland is among the highest subscribers to teenage sex. Irishmen were logging on the Internet and going to places like Thailand looking for sex with very young teenage children. I do not know if there is a mechanism in place whereby we can prosecute offenders in these cases but it is certainly an area we should examine.