Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank all the Senators who contributed to the debate. There is a great deal of expertise in this area in the Seanad and it is a great opportunity for me to come to the Chamber and hear the expertise of those Members in respect of the issues raised by the rapporteur. I thank them all for contributing to the debate.

A number of key themes emerged from Senators' contributions, although a broad range of comments were made. We can see both from the report and from the contributions to the debate the size of the challenge facing us in terms of the legislation needed in this area.

A number of Members spoke about the underlying issues of child poverty, alcohol and drugs. Senator Aideen Hayden, in particular, highlighted those, and that point is well made. We must tackle some of those broader issues to deal with the particular points made in the report.

It is clear we need an implementation plan for the report. A number of speakers called for that, not least because it is the fourth report and it is the first time the report has been debated in these Houses. It is important we do that because it is not enough to commission reports, put them on the shelf and not implement them. Senator van Turnhout suggested a committee should be set up to examine an implementation plan and monitor it. That would be helpful. It is what we should do and I would be happy to be part of this.

Senator Terry Leyden asked about the referendum, as did a number of other Senators. That is a priority for the Government. We have the benefit of the all-party report and the benefit of wording introduced by the former Minister of State and Deputy Barry Andrews. We have a response to that from the previous Attorney General expressing concerns about the financial demands the committee's wording would place on the State and that they appear to be unlimited. That is something we need to examine. I am examining it as a priority. The Government has not decided on a date, but it has stated it will not take place with the Presidential election. The Attorney General is examining the wording and I hope we can agree the wording in the very near future. What is critical about the referendum is that people understand why we are introducing the wording, why we are trying to change the Constitution, and that they are clear that it is about protecting children, which also protects families. I look forward to the support of this House in ensuring people understand clearly why constitutional change is necessary. Some of the points made in the report elaborate on why we need such change and several Members referred to this.

It is not just about constitutional change. Bringing in the referendum and ensuring it is passed is very important, but there is much legislation recommended in this report and many people asked me about my priorities for that legislation. The first priority will be to introduce Children First on a statutory basis, to issue the new guidelines, the assurance framework and the implementation framework for the various agencies and Departments in contact with children. That is the priority, but I indicated the other areas where the Government intends to introduce legislation in the coming months. Some of this has been recommended by the rapporteur, while some represents new legislation from the Government. The priority areas will be the legislation on vetting, on Children First and the various amending Bills in the area of criminal justice, which the Minister for Justice and Equality is developing. I hope that in the next few months, there will be a range of Bills on this area before the Houses, and I hope Members will be able to support them.

In respect of introducing legislation on the purchase of sex, as the Swedish Government has done, the matter is being considered by the Attorney General. She has been asked for advice and I will await that before returning to the issue. A number of Senators spoke about this during the previous Seanad, such as Senators Rónán Mullen and Paul Bradford. The Swedish Government also published a report on the issue. There are some concerns about such legislation. Some people feel that it is harder to detect what is actually happening in those countries. There is also the issue of sex trafficking moving to other countries. We should discuss these issues and see how we can move forward.

The question of trafficking young children and missing children has been raised by several Senators. That was a great concern in 2008 and 2009. From the information I have received, I am pleased to say that much more work is being done between Customs and the group in the HSE responsible for missing children. The numbers have decreased significantly and there is much more inter-agency co-operation and procedures at ports. We are seeing improvements in the numbers, but one missing child is one child too many. If we have children, they should clearly be in a safe environment and should not go missing. This needs constant vigilance. More fingerprinting is being carried out on people presenting as under age at ports. There is greater Garda surveillance. There is a stronger monitoring system of missing persons with local gardaí and interaction with the HSE, as well as sharing photographic evidence between the HSE and the Garda. That is the kind of inter-agency work that must happen when we have a particular social problem and it appears to be working right now.

The treatment of separated children in this country has been a problem. I did a study of this. It is very clear that unaccompanied minors who come to this country were not getting the kind of intervention Irish children going into care were getting. That has changed. We now have those children accessing the same kind of social work service and placement. They are not being put into hostels as was the case previously where they were extremely vulnerable. There are changes but the system will require constant monitoring.

I accept the point made by Senator John Crown on paediatric services. Clearly, some of the most vulnerable children end up in hospitals needing care and attention. Other Senators referred to the impact of cutbacks in services for children with special needs. There is clear evidence that the economic situation is impacting on children and families. However, it is a challenge to provide the same service and build on existing services with the budgetary situation we face. I commented on the point on the reform of services and inter-agency work. A number of Senators indicated that it is not just about money; it is about how we do things as well and that we can deliver services in a more efficient way. We must examine the issue seriously.

I will leave Magdalene laundries for the Minister for Justice and Equality to address. I accept the points made about the real concerns expressed about the experience of the women who were in those institutions. It is a catalogue in much the same way as what has happened to the many children documented in the Ryan report. The Minister for Justice and Equality will address the matter.

Youth homelessness is the other key area on which Members focused. Many young people who access services for the homeless do so without going to the Garda. I agree with Mr. Shannon's proposals on the discontinuance of the use of Garda stations. Service providers have also called for a review of the definition of youth homelessness. I agree that we need improved information on youth homelessness.

It is disturbing that children in care are so vulnerable. On the statistics to which we referred today, it is unacceptable that one third of children who leave care end up homeless. Senators suggested various remedies for this. For the HSE to have responsibility for children after they reach the age of 18 years is one key way to address the issue. That is done by way of guidelines. It is an improvement on how things were done last year. A new set of guidelines has been issued to the HSE to confirm that it has a responsibility and an authority to work with children who have been in care when they reach the age of 18 years. Ghost estates and existing housing require investigation to see whether there are possibilities for housing and resources being made available to people in a more creative way than has been the case to date. That issue must be addressed also.

Many other suggestions have been made. I will consider an implementation plan for the report. I hope to have an opportunity to bring it before a committee and consider how we can implement, and in what order, the more than 100 recommendations made in the report. It is important that we do that and that we do not say in two years time that the report for this year has not been implemented. Everything cannot be done at once. We will have to prioritise. I will be happy to do that. I look forward to the support of the many Senators who have contributed at such a high level to the debate in ensuring we implement the recommendations and bring forward the legislation recommended as speedily as possible.