Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am sympathetic to the points that have been made. As Senators Norris and Fitzgerald said, language has a capacity to effect change. I also believe that. However, the proposed amendment underlines the difficulty of the situation in that it is proposed to substitute the word "rehabilitation", which implies some previous wrongdoing. The capacity of the criminal justice system to rehabilitate an individual is a term that is very often used in the context of detention and sentencing in the criminal justice system in general. The alternative use of the word "placement" has been suggested and it was proposed to table an amendment to that effect on Report Stage. I would consider such an amendment at that time.

It would be confusing to insert that term in the Children Act 2001 because it deals with children detention schools. I do not believe anyone would argue that when one is dealing with a children detention school, one is dealing with a child that has committed an offence under that Act. If one makes an order under that Act, it is appropriately referred to as a children detention order and not a children rehabilitation order. We need to distinguish care from detention in regard to offending - in other words, the Child Care Act as against the Children Act 2001.

In the context of this Bill, our legal advice on the use of the word "detention" is that it is appropriate to the circumstances of this Bill. The Act must be very clear that special care involves the detention of a child. To use any other word would be likely to mislead and make the position uncertain for the courts, the HSE, the children, parents, guardians and the general public. As to the fact that special care involves the detention of the child, currently, the High Court orders made, which provide for special care for children, are called detention orders. Successive court judgments have used the term "detention". Judgments have been clear in their distinction between detention in a special care facility and detention under criminal statutes. In terms of special care, in judicial review proceedings, its use does not connote any criminality on the part of children. It is for that reason that I would not accept the amendment at this time. However, at a later Stage in the Seanad or Dáil we could have further discussions on the issue. The proposed amendment underlines the difficulty but I am not unsympathetic to the intentions of the proposal.