Maria Corrigan (Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this very important issue and thank the Minister of State for coming into the House respond.

In the past few years in excess of 500 children in the care of the HSE have gone missing. The children to whom I refer specifically are non-nationals or unaccompanied minors. In excess of 70 have been located and determined to be safe. However, in excess of 424 remain missing. These children entered the country unaccompanied and arrangements were made to have them placed in the care of the HSE. There is a belief many of them have sought out family members and left the care of the HSE of their own volition without giving notice or an indication that they were doing so. There are concerns that some of them may have been brought into the country for the purposes of exploitation, whether in the labour force or the sex trade. The reality is that this is all conjecture and that the evidence is anecdotal. We do not know what has happened to these 424 children.

I welcome the new national action plan and the agreement put in place between the HSE and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It should work very well for any new child who goes missing. It is of the utmost importance that Ireland send a very clear message in regard to the 424 children who remain missing that we want to learn of their whereabouts and be assured that they are safe. That is an important message to send in order that Ireland will not be viewed as a soft target for child traffickers.

Given that the children in question are unaccompanied, they do not know anybody in this country. There is no one to go to the Garda Síochána or the HSE to ask what steps have been taken to find Johnny or Mary; there is no one to speak on their behalf. This is something of which I am very conscious. Will the Minister of State undertake as soon as possible a national campaign focused on these 424 children and provide a dedicated telephone line which members of the public with information on their safety and whereabouts could utilise?