Imelda Henry (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate her and her staff on bringing the Bill to the Oireachtas. They have undertaken and completed an enormous amount of work.

This Bill will establish a stand alone agency that is concerned with the welfare of children and families. Members on all sides have recognised and acknowledged that this is a huge step forward. Until now, we had 4,000 staff scattered across the sector, but now we will have an interagency approach. We know from previous experience that where we have several agencies dealing with children with difficulties, some children get lost in the system. This is the first time, with the exception of section 20 of the Child Care Act 2007, that we are taking an interagency approach and are mentioning the word “interagency” in our Statute Book. This is a hugely positive reflection on the work done by the Minister.

Under the Bill, child welfare and child protection will be a priority. This change is long overdue and badly needed. The needs of children are complex, as are the needs of families. Having a stand alone agency to deal with child related services recognises these complexities. It will allow for the delivery of effective services, a much more thorough and focused analysis and a more accountable delivery of services. Irish children deserve no less.

As we move forward with this Bill, it is important we remember how we got here and what happened in the past. We cannot forget the litany of cases since the Kilkenny incest report was published in 1993. Those reports and reviews read as a litany of failure and silence. They reflect on a time when we feared authority and where no action was taken. Since the Kilkenny incest case report recommended that those with responsibility for the support and safeguarding of children be brought together under one roof, we have had a litany of failures, right up to the report last year by Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbons on the deaths of children in this country.

The commitment in the programme for Government to establish the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the appointment of a full Cabinet Minister marked the first step towards real change in dealing with children, their welfare, care and rights. The State, sadly, has a long and shameful history of letting children down and the Minister is determined to put this right. She successfully steered last year’s children’s rights referendum which enshrined these rights in the Constitution for the first time. This legislation will establish a stand-alone agency for children and families which will be built on accountability and be child focused.

I compliment all of the agencies involved such as Barnardos and the Children's Rights Alliance which have done sterling work in this area. There are multiple agencies that do excellent work as advocates for children. Some of this work is remunerated, but much of it is unpaid, undertaken by people who work above and beyond the call of duty. They include child care workers, parents and voluntary staff who put in long hours without pay. They do it because they are interested in the health, welfare and protection of children.

The Minister stated family resource centres would continue to play an important role in the community-based models for early intervention and family support services, as envisaged in the children’s rights referendum. This is welcome as the services local family resources centres provde in communities are invaluable. I am glad that their role will not be diminished.

I am pleased that this legislation is before the House. Clearly, the establishment of the agency is an ambitious undertaking. The Bill sets out a strong framework of public accountability, with the Minister establishing the policy objectives for the agency and its board being responsible to her for its performance. It involves the bringing together of over 4,000 staff and a budget of nearly €600 million from three existing bodies to be led by a single management team. The leadership of the Child and Family Agency is in place under the stewardship of Gordon Jeyes. Senior managers were recruited by open competition and will provide the capacity, as well as the leadership, the agency requires. Each of the senior managers will have child and family services as his or her exclusive priority. Below that management level, there is an emphasis on strong local management operating within a clear national framework.

The Children's Rights Alliance has acknowledged the sterling work of the Minister, describing the new agency as a powerful vehicle for delivery for children. It is welcome that we have reached this point and will have an inter-agency approach to delivering child welfare services, although we may not all agree on everything and there may be issues that we need to tease out. I congratulate todays’ announcement of more funding for the area-based childhood, ABC, programme. The issue of alcohol abuse is raised in the House every week. Easy availability and cheap pricing are the main difficulties in this regard. The Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, has said legislation in this area is moving forward. It really should be at the top of the Government’s agenda because alcohol abuse causes significant problems for families.