Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Irish Farmers Association for organising today's rally and meeting. A figure of 20,000 people is some achievement. I also note another very positive jobs announcement today in respect of the 800 jobs to be created by the Kerry Group, which is another good news story for the Irish food sector. All of those jobs are to be in place by 2016.

Listening this morning to the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, who published her annual report today, it was very welcome to hear her acknowledge that there has been a significant shift in how public bodies responded to her recommendations at all levels. Throughout 2011, she saw a significant rise in the number of complaints but also a significant shift and a change in culture within public bodies. Ms Logan has been campaigning for this for a number of years. She has spoken at Oireachtas committee meetings about the difficulty she experienced in getting public bodies to adopt a child-centred approach. That has changed. She also commented that the Children First national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children have been adopted and implemented completely. That is very positive news, particularly as we are in the middle of a referendum campaign which, again, will put children at the centre of how decisions are taken in this country. It is a very positive step and I congratulate Ms Logan on her work in that area.