David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I commend Senator van Turnhout for tabling this motion in the first instance and seeking the support of all parties for it. My party is very pleased to support and co-sponsor it. A number of Senators have spoken about the need for the Government to vindicate the rights of children. It is interesting that since I was elected to this House, we have had a number of discussions on children's issues. The Minister was present for the recent discussion on the Cloyne report. We have discussed children's rights on several occasions, most recently when Dr. Maurice Manning came to the House to speak about human and civil rights.

Other Senators mentioned that the Minister is a former Member of this House and has been involved in politics for a long time. Many fine speeches, motions and contributions have been made by people from all political parties. When the time comes to deliver on children's rights in a range of areas, however, the system seems to suffer from inertia. In such circumstances, it is easy to see why people get frustrated with the political system and with politics. For some reason, the system has failed to prioritise the rights of children. I do not believe these rights should be bartered for. I do not believe we are being unreasonable in the requests we are making.

It would be easy for the Government to ensure this hotline is established. I accept that the Minister has given a commitment to examine the matter in 2012. It was interesting to hear her say that no organisation has tendered for, or expressed an interest in, the provision of this service at this number. I understand that the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has publicly expressed its interest in doing so, through the media and through official channels. The problem is that it needs the resources and funds to provide the service. It is not the case that these organisations are not willing or capable of providing a hotline service. There are people and organisations that are ready to do so, but they need the funding.

I welcome the commitment given by the Minister to establish a new project team and examine the funding of this project. A previous speaker spoke about the funding issue. Perhaps the Minister can respond on that issue.

The Minister needs to examine the question of vetting and cross-Border issues. When we debated the Cloyne report, it was mentioned that sex offenders have crossed the Border on occasions, unfortunately. There is a need for an all-Ireland approach to ensure there is no hiding place for sex offenders in any part of Ireland. The Border should not be seen as presenting an opportunity to those who seek to exploit children.

As many of the points I wanted to make have been made, I will not repeat them. It is important that the Minister does not merely acknowledge the sentiments of Senators. This should not simply be another motion that is passed. We should not be still talking about the same issues six months, 12 months or two years from now.

This motion relates to the hotline, which we hope will be operational in 2012. It should have been operational a long time ago. The Minister cannot be held responsible for that. She can make sure the line becomes operational on her watch. I believe she will do so. I hope she goes further and examines all of the many other issues, such as those relating to migrant children, people in direct provision centres and children from different backgrounds who go missing.

The most important thing we can do is not agreeing a motion or speaking fine words, but vindicating of the rights and needs of children. This is one of them. I acknowledge the commitment the Minister has given today and the contributions of previous Senators, including Senator van Turnhout, who tabled this motion in the first instance.