Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The third group comprises amendments Nos. 5 and 6. Amendment No. 5 is a technical amendment and amendment No. 6 amends section 43B to provide that an additional category of person may apply to the court to have an order under section 43A of the principal Act or any condition or restriction attaching to such an order varied or discharged. This amendment relates to the Bill that was passed by Seanad Éireann where we extended the concept of foster parents or foster carers applying for greater rights and more autonomy in respect of children who have been fostered by them for more than five years. That requires a court application.

Concern was expressed in Seanad Éireann that all the persons who might have an interest in the welfare of the child might not have the necessary standing to be present in court. I undertook to examine the matter and have done so. The original section 43 provided that the HSE, foster parent or relative to whom the order was granted, or a parent or person acting in loco parentis, could apply. I have extended the standing to include a person who, in the opinion of the court, has a bona fide interest in the child concerned.

The amendments in group 4 are Nos. 7 to 15, inclusive, and they relate to and restate Part VII of the Child Care Act 1991. At present, Part VII of the Act provides for the regulation of preschool child care but the regulation of child care for children of school age is outside the scope of the Act. Consequently providers of such services cannot avail of the VAT exemption currently available to providers of preschool care. I have therefore provided, in this group of amendments, for a regime of inspection for after-school child care services. Once the regime is established in the legislation, the necessary service is exempt from VAT.

The individual amendments set out the scheme of inspection. Amendment No. 7 defines school-age services and amendment No. 8 gives the Minister power to make regulations in respect thereof. Amendment No. 9 provides for the notification to the HSE of the provision of such a service and amendment No. 10 provides for an obligation to take reasonable measures to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of school-age children.

Amendment No. 11 provides for powers of inspection and amendment No. 12 affords power of entry, where required. Amendment No. 13 provides that the HSE may provide school-age services and that regulations may be made by the Minister in respect of them. Amendment No. 14 concerns offences. Amendment No. 15 provides for exemptions from the requirements of sections 50 to 57 for a person caring for children of relatives or a sibling group of children and provides for an exemption for a person caring for not more than five children of different families — of whom not more than three may be preschool children, excluding the person's own children — in that person's house.

Group five contains amendments Nos. 17, 18 and 19, which relate to the Children Act 2001. Amendments Nos. 18 and 19 provide for changes to section 76A(1)(c) and section 77(1), which relate to HSE-provided family welfare conferences that can take place in the context of youth justice court proceedings. These sections provide that a court hearing criminal proceedings against a child — a person under 18 years — may, where it considers a welfare issue arises in respect of that child, direct the involvement of the HSE in convening a family welfare conference in respect of the child. The purpose of these amendments is to provide that the use of family welfare conferences that arise in the context of juvenile justice cases is practicable.

Amendment No. 18 deletes certain words from section 76A(1)(c) that relate to court-directed family welfare conferences under section 77. The words proposed to be deleted are: "pending the outcome of the conference, make an emergency care order or a supervision order under the Act of 1991 in respect of the child." Amendment No. 19 amends section 77 and provides that where a court directs the HSE to hold a family welfare conference, the court must be satisfied that it is practicable for the executive to hold such a conference having regard to the age of the child and his or her family or other circumstances.

The amendments clarify that it will be for the HSE to apply for orders under the Child Care Act 1991 in respect of the child where this is appropriate following the family welfare conference. These amendments will allow for the early commencement of section 77 of the Children Act 2001, the last remaining section of the 2001 Act that requires commencement.

Group 6 contains amendments Nos. 20 to 22, inclusive. They change the name and functions of the Special Residential Services Board, which was established under Part 11 of the Children Act 2001. Amendments Nos. 20 and 21 insert a new section providing that the name of the board be changed to the Children Acts Advisory Board and amendment No. 22 sets out its functions.

As a result of the establishment of Youth Justice Service and the reorganisation of functions on the departmental side in the Office of the Minister for Children, there was a more precise allocation of responsibilities in regard to the residential care of children and the need for a specialised board to concentrate exclusively on that disappeared. For that reason, it was felt it was worthwhile to build on the good work the board had done in co-ordinating residential care by allowing it become involved in co-ordinating work on the operation of both the Children Act 2001 and the Child Care Act 1991.

Group 7 deals with amendments Nos. 23 and 25. These are technical consequential amendments arising from the change of the name of the Special Residential Services Board to the Children Acts Advisory Board. Senators can see that an extensive schedule of definitions and amendments is set out in amendment No. 25.