Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I thank Senator Rónán Mullen for sharing time. I welcome the Minister. When she demoted from this House to the Lower House, I thought we might not see her again, but then she was promoted to this position. I was pleased by her contribution and I am pleased we have a Department of Children and Youth Affairs. As she demonstrated in her contribution, she will grab the opportunity to produce the goods in order that we can do what we want in this area. I must have led a sheltered life. I had no idea until I began to study this issue recently - it was an education for me - of the amount of abuse, problems and difficulties. The Minister's comments on the revised Children First guidelines were interesting and I urge her to introduce them soon while acknowledging that is her intention.

I was aware of a number of child protection issues, despite my sheltered life. The Minister referred to British retailers who decided to do something about the issue of young children wearing sexually suggestive clothing and adult clothing in advertisements, magazines and so on. The fact that this has been achieved through voluntary agreement between retailers is a reminder that sometimes we can take action without necessarily waiting for laws to be enacted to ensure it happens. I hope the Children First legislation will be enacted soon.

I came across a shocking story about an international band of human traffickers who were caught smuggling children into Germany from Haiti and then selling them to paedophiles. Two men from Berlin were arrested at Munich airport while trying to enter the country illegally with a ten year old. They had founded a fake aid organisation to care for under-age street children. Separately, two French people were arrested at a Ukrainian border crossing attempting to bring two babies into Hungary. The babies were discovered unconscious having been drugged with sleeping pills. We in Ireland should be aware that these cases are being discovered almost daily.

Mr. Shannon must be congratulated on his fourth report but he said actions proposed four years ago to protect children from prostitution, trafficking and exploitation had not been implemented. That is why I am delighted the Minister is in charge of child protection now. The European Union is vital in this regard. I welcome the fact that earlier this year the European Commission presented a communication for an EU agenda on the rights of the child. The communication presents an action plan that covers a wide range of areas and comprises 11 initiatives where the EU can strengthen child safety and children's well-being. Currently, no EU legislation deals with children's rights in one consolidated law and while a number of EU laws affect children directly or indirectly, no legislation puts them all altogether. A more child friendly justice system in European is a key objective and we can set a standard in Ireland that will be viewed by the rest of Europe as a move to get something done.

I had not realised that Mr. Shannon had done four reports. I commend him on devoting so much attention and time to this and I am heartened that children's rights are getting the attention of a full Department. This gives me confidence that in the Minister's hands we will achieve what we are setting out to do.