Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I warmly welcome the Minister to the House. I will take this opportunity to commend her on her 18 to 19 months of work on the children referendum, which had been sought and requested for many years. It was vital, not just to get the issue over the line, but in terms of public discussion on the matter. It was great to see children's interests so focused in the minds of the media, politicians and others. The Seanad is lucky to have Members of the calibre of Senator van Turnhout who have dedicated their lives to working for children's rights. Organising that referendum in 18 months was a significant achievement.

As a student in UCD nearly 18 or 19 years ago, I discussed the importance of children with the Minister, who was then just Deputy Fitzgerald. It is good to see someone travel this distance. She has had her political battles and is doing a fantastic job.

The Bill could be described as technical legislation, but it is more than that. When enacted, it will impact on children's lives and the HSE's resources, which would be better spent looking after children's welfare instead of going to court every week. That an interim care order can only last for a maximum of eight days is unrealistic. HSE officials using up court time every week seeking extensions to such orders is not a good way to do business. As such, the Minister has made the right decision. The Bill ensures that the 1991 legislation is better enacted so that the welfare of children can become even more paramount. I have not even mentioned the effect on families and children of needing to attend court every week. We need to minimise people's court attendances, especially children's.

It is not the type of environment that is conducive to a better quality of life for anyone, particularly children, and it can have, as I am sure others will comment on, a profound effect.

This legislation tidies up something that probably should have been done a long time ago. Now that there is a full Cabinet Minister with responsibility for children and there is that ranking, children are given a far higher priority. There is a mandate from the people to ensure measures, which might seem simple or technical to the Members and to people outside these Houses following these proceedings, are taken but when one is in the throes of dealing with something like this it is a different situation. It can have profound emotional and psychological effects. Furthermore, resources are tight enough and there have been enough cutbacks. It would be beneficial if we could redeploy resources in a way that matters to people and that helps the lives of children, as opposed to having HSE officials go in and out of court every week. The arrangements, to which the Minister referred, whereby the court sitting will be on a specific day of the week is a factor in terms of the proper channelling of resources and that must be welcomed.

I have no doubt that as the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, comes to terms with her Ministry and brings forward many more items of legislation such as this that it will have a cumulative effect to ensure that children are at the centre of this society in a real and meaningful way. I view this legislation as incremental progress in the right direction. I commend the Bill to the House.