Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank the speakers and Senator Glynn for raising this issue. I was asked to appear before the Seanad and, while it is not for me to decide, I was delighted to speak on this issue, which is an area of which we can be proud in terms of the delivery of services. I wish to refer to some items that will not be covered in my main contribution.

This matter was encapsulated in the question asked by Senator Fitzgerald about what we have done since the "Prime Time Investigates" issue arose. That took place the day after I was appointed and it gave me an early baptism. Since then, there is the question of how up to date the figures are. The answer is they are not up to date. Since I was appointed, the 2005 and 2006 figures have been published. I have received a draft of the 2007 figures and a commitment that the 2008 figures will be published by April 2009 and that, thereafter, each year's figures will be published in a more timely fashion. That will give us a better, more contemporaneous assessment of the gaps and duplication that exist and of where we can apply resources more evenly. We are having a major discussion with the HSE to roll out a knowledge management strategy so that we can equip our social workers with the facilities that will allow them to know where risks may arise. If we can get that going, we can make a major contribution to social workers in Ireland.

The HSE is currently in the process of recruiting up to 100 new social workers. I hope that will continue. We must acknowledge that the HSE is doing a very good job in that regard.

Regarding after care, section 45 of the Child Care Act gives a discretionary role to the HSE regarding children after the age of 18. This is interpreted by most HSE staff to mean they will do something and not just write off children when they turn 18. Although it is a discretionary function, they carry it out as if it were mandatory. Nevertheless, I am discussing changing this section with my officials and the HSE in order to put it on a mandatory footing or change it in some way to acknowledge the issue of after care. I consider this serious because there are risks associated with it, including homelessness. It is difficult to say that a child becomes mature at 18 and capable of watching out for himself or herself. The unintended result of the major scandal in the UK of the baby P case is that social workers are removing children from homes at three times the rate they were doing prior to the case being reported. This is not what we want and everyone agrees on this.