Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Leas-Chathaoirleach on his appointment and welcome the Minister. It is so nice to see her sitting where she is; as Senator Terry Leyden mentioned, she fought the good fight as leader of the Opposition here and has definitely earned her spot. It is heartening to see the Taoiseach making her role a full ministry and that the new Department is up and running. Considering our country's history with regard to child and institutional abuse, there is much of which to be ashamed. Our system has broken down many times and as the Minister indicated, there have been systemic failures throughout.

This is a strong report and I compliment Mr. Geoffrey Shannon, as the Minister has done, for bringing these key points together for us. I welcome much of this report and I am keen that the Minister in summing up would outline how many of the recommendations can be implemented or committed to in the course of the Government's term. What are the priorities in light of restricted resources and the funding mess we have taken on as a new Government?

The report considers homelessness, mental health and criminal law, sex trafficking and the Children First protection guidelines. I will consider each of these in turn. I noticed what appears to be a gaping hole in the report. There seems to be nothing in the report about missing children, which is significant. During the last Government term, Deputy Denis Naughten highlighted on many occasions the 1,000 untraceable children between primary and secondary school. Where are they in the report? The Deputy did much work in the area so what is the current position?

I am sure the Minister received the letter we all got this week from One Child International, which indicates that there are 500 missing children, with some in brothels and some working as slaves in domestic labour. What actions are being taken in this respect as children are going missing? There was a terribly sad case last year when Daniel McAnaspie, a 17-year-old boy, went missing from care and died in terrible circumstances. We must be responsible in that respect.

In the Oireachtas education and science report in which I participated as rapporteur last year, there was an element dealing with early school leaving and its prevention. We saw a lack of traceability and continuity from primary to secondary school with children, and there is significant need for a primary database so we can track children. Some of our children are clearly emigrating but we must know, for example, if they are involved in sex trafficking.

The Daniel McAnaspie case highlighted the serious breakdown in information sharing and lack of disclosure between State agencies. That boy was at risk and one or two quotations from his education experience showed that he put down a marker that he was in need of extra attention. The report highlights the need for legislation to protect children and strengthen inter-agency co-operation to assist with information sharing between agencies and disclosure between State agencies. Does the Minister intend to introduce legislation in this area? When there is no continuity, mistakes will be made. I come from the education sector and I know how busy it can be, and unless protocols are in place for information sharing, children will be the losers.

Equally, the point is well made in the report that homeless children are at serious risk of child trafficking. As the Minister noted, there is evidence from countries such as Norway and Sweden that those who procure sexual services are prosecuted in law. Are we considering legislation in that respect also? There is much in this report that is worthwhile, although there is a requirement for legislation. Will the Minister outline when summing up where she intends to introduce legislation?

The section on homelessness was very thorough, highlighting data issues and the lack of information. The primary learner database would help immensely in this regard, although I know this would cross to the Department of Education and Skills. The Educational Research Centre has highlighted that issue on many occasions, as we did in the early school leaving report.

With the identification of homeless children, there is a need for a risk factor protocol to empower professionals to recognise easily and speedily children who are at risk of homelessness. In effect, these children are at risk of homelessness before leaving home, so there should be a protocol in effect in hospitals, accident and emergency rooms, pre-schools and primary schools. The key group for this protocol is public and community health nurses, who are keen to have such a protocol in effect. They have come to me to speak about such issues. Mary O'Dowd may be known to the Minister as the president of the Institute of Community Health Nursing. She and her group are ready and able to work on such a protocol. In the light of the Minister's desire to integrate service delivery and harmonise policy, this is a group which would respond to the challenge. That should not cost us money because it should be part of its remit. Local authorities, in their role as housing providers, should also implement the risk factor protocol because we are all aware from our constituency clinics of the number of people who seek assistance in changing their accommodation. The background stories to these housing applications could assist in the identification of children at risk.

The risk factor protocol would assist not only in dealing with homelessness but also in cases of sexual abuse. When that awful case in Roscommon came to trial last year, there was an advocate in the court for the parents, but there was a lack of advocacy on behalf of the children. Members will recall the serious gaps in information exchange and monitoring owing to staff turnover and the lack of cohesion. Again, the children were the losers.

With regard to the proposed referendum on the rights of children, how will children be better protected in these areas? The recommendations made on page 11 of the report include a positive proposal on strengthening the law. Will we introduce legislation to enable homeless children to seek redress through the courts in regard to housing provision? Geoffrey Shannon makes an interesting proposal in this regard.

Parenting is a fundamental issue which definitely depends on the availability of resources because it is at the centre of everything connected to children. Every child has parents, at least one of whom is known unless the child has been abandoned. The Minister has indicated that she is keen to consider what works most effectively and efficiently for families. The first six years of a child's life are key in ensuring early childhood intervention and identifying risk.

The report considers the issue of mental health and the criminal law. This is an interesting section, particularly given that the welfare of the child has traditionally not carried similar weight in the criminal justice system. What practical measures will the Minister prioritise during her period in office to address the issue of child protection as it relates to mental health and the criminal law? How will she improve information exchange between agencies, for example, on sex offenders?

With regard to the youth justice system, the report points out that children, particularly those with mental health issues, are not afforded the same opportunities as adults to advocate views on medical treatment. Will this change on foot of the children's rights referendum?

I welcome the aftercare policy and the fact that aftercare will not stop just because a child has turned 18 years. Will the Government work on this policy? For many years we have been calling for the Children First guidelines to be put on a statutory footing. Will this mean mandatory reporting of sexual abuse cases for professionals?

The report will involve a considerable amount of work. If the Minister implements its key findings during her term in office, she will make a massive difference to the quality of life and safety of children. Can the Office of the Ombudsman for Children take responsibility for addressing some of these challenges? I read its recent report and, while it does valuable work in terms of being proactive and reactive, some of the individual cases were similar to those we deal with in our constituency clinics. What is the point in the Ombudsman simply responding to individual cases rather than framing policy around them? Are these individual cases worked into policy any more than the cases we deal with in our constituency clinics? One of the cases involved speech therapy for autistic children, but while a result was achieved for the child in question, the benefits should accrue for all children. In the light of the need to make better use of resources, is it possible to amend the role of the Ombudsman to support the Minister in implementing initiatives in these areas?