Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I am taking the Adjournment on behalf of my colleagues, Deputy Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children, and Deputy Barry Andrews, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with responsibility for children and youth affairs. I thank Senator Corrigan for raising this matter and I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Adjournment.

The HSE has indicated that in the short timeframe available it is unable to provide all the information requested due to definitional variances between the different HSE areas. The most recent complete and verified full year data in respect of children missing from care are for 2006. The HSE has advised that in 2006, 181 children went missing from the care of the HSE and, of these, 180 were subsequently accounted for. The figure does not include separated children seeking asylum.

Information in respect of the numbers of separated children seeking asylum and missing from care is provided from 2000 to 2008. In this period 454 separated children seeking asylum went missing from the care of the HSE and, of these, 58 were subsequently accounted for. These figures relate to the Dublin south east area where the majority of separated children seeking asylum are cared for.

The majority of separated children seeking asylum who go missing are aged between 16 and 17 years and, in many cases, abscond very soon after arriving in the country. The suspicion is that many of these children may have preplanned this with persons unknown prior to entering the country. This may be done with the objective of reuniting with their families, who have already arrived in the State, or with the intention of relocating to other European countries where their families are located.

As part of its response to this problem, the HSE has commenced a process to change its model of care for separated minors such that they can avail of foster care and residential care arrangements across a broader spectrum than previously.

There is recognition that the service needs to be considered on a national basis. Plans are in progress to move the focus away from Dublin as a service point and in the future separated children will be placed appropriately across the country. As a parallel process, the hostels currently in use in Dublin will be phased out. It is the objective of the HSE that all separated children will, in the future, as soon as is feasibly possible, be placed in foster care in a registered residential care placement or its equivalent. The increased supervision these care arrangements will provide should result in fewer children going missing. I am aware that the HSE has developed a strong working relationship with the Garda National Immigration Bureau in relation to missing children.

Every incident of missing children is taken very seriously. The reasons for children going missing from care are varied and complex and cannot be viewed in isolation from associated factors such as in-care experience and home dynamics. Every missing child episode should attract proper attention from the professionals involved and they must collaborate to ensure a consistent and coherent response is given to the missing child on his or her return. A joint national protocol between the HSE and the Garda authorities regarding all children who go missing from care was signed on 22 April 2009. The protocol outlines the roles and responsibilities of both agencies regarding children missing from care. The protocol seeks to maximise inter-agency co-operation and promote the safety and welfare of children. The joint aim of the protocol is to reduce the incidence of children going missing from care placements, to prevent those children from suffering harm and to return them to safety as soon as possible. The protocol is being disseminated nationally.

A key element of the protocol is a commitment from the HSE to ensure that sufficient knowledge and information about the child is recorded to provide the Garda Síochána with the information necessary for the investigative process, in the event that the child goes missing. This includes keeping a recent good quality photograph of the child on the child's record.

Another important feature of the protocol is the establishment of a Garda liaison role with the HSE care placements at local level. The local liaison role includes a mechanism to identify children in care who are reported missing frequently and to escalate responsibility for them to an appropriate level of authority in both organisations.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all children in care are cared for in a safe and secure environment. It is hoped that the implementation of the joint national protocol will reduce the incidence of children going missing from care and will ensure their safe return.