Seanad debates

Thursday, 6 May 2010

Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Fine Gael)

I second the amendment. Again, this amendment is about striving to achieve that very difficult balance and most importantly, putting children first, at the very heart of the legislation.

Section 23ND confers considerable and wide-ranging powers upon the HSE once a child is in special care and gives it, as section 23ND(a) says, "control over the child as if it were a parent of that child". Those of us who are parents would readily acknowledge that as one's children get older, one begins to take their views and opinions more seriously. Having regard to the views and opinions of a child in care and taking them into consideration, I would argue, is central to the successful treatment and care of that child. Again, we need to put children first and we really need to mean it. For many years children in care were not listened to.

The second part of our amendment is again concerned with trying to achieve balance in proceedings so the rights of the child remain paramount. If a child in care is vehemently opposed to steps proposed by the HSE, then surely he or she would find himself or herself in an isolated and vulnerable position with no one to turn to for support or adjudication. How many times have we seen such scenarios described in child care reports? This amendment deals with that issue by allowing the courts to give direction to the HSE, and it allows the child some rights in deciding his or her future on reaching the age of maturity to do so.

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