Imelda Henry (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to welcome the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, back to the Upper House this afternoon in my capacity as Fine Gael spokesperson on children and youth affairs. The Minister has been very generous with the time she has given engaging with the Seanad.

The matter of youth justice is one of a number of very significant areas the Minister has been dealing with since her appointment as the State's first senior Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. As an area that straddles two Departments - Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs - it is a particularly challenging one requiring close co-operation between the two Departments. I am conscious that while the Minister for Justice and Equality is responsible for youth crime policy and law including crime prevention, reduction and detection as well as criminal proceedings and diversion and community sanctions, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is responsible for the three children detention schools housing girls up to the age of 18 and boys up to the age of 17, and that brings the provisions of the Children Act 2001 into focus.

It is true that most policy initiatives under the Department of Children and Youth Affairs have a cross-portfolio element to them and require a great deal of skill to move forward. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, having worked as a social worker in inner city London and Dublin for 20 years, is uniquely qualified to advance progressive approaches to youth justice.

The circumstances of children in custody is a matter that has received a great deal of attention in recent times, and rightly so.

It makes no sense to look back on the mistreatment of children and young people in the past and believe that in this day and age all the problems have been addressed. I believe that the most meaningful way the State can atone for the sins of the past is to ensure that in modern Ireland we have a humane and progressive approach to child detention facilities at the very least. Primarily child detention should be avoided wherever possible in favour of non-custodial sanctions, particularly restorative justice initiatives. I understand that important progress is being made in this regard through the youth diversion programme operated by juvenile liaison officers.

The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has made significant progress in addressing the problems in our child detention facilities. She inherited huge problems upon taking office, not least the fragmentation within the child detention area. I note her stated intention to introduce a children (amendment) Bill which would provide for the amendment of the Children Act 2001 to allow for the amalgamation of the three children's detention schools to maximise shared services and create what the Minister describes as a single-campus ethos. To my mind, such a move is in the best interests of both staff and detainees as it is likely to deliver a more consistent, streamlined, best-practice approach.

The Minister has also introduced other important measures, including the provision of enhanced specialist therapeutic services to children in detention schools, including greater access to multidisciplinary teams of psychologists, substance misuse specialists and speech and language therapists. This is a recognition of the various serious problems that can lead children into difficulty and I sincerely welcome this new development.

Moreover, the Minister has ended the historic practice of committing 16-year-old boys to St. Patrick's Institution and committed to a huge capital spend of more than €56 million to the Oberstown campus in Lusk to give effect to the Government decision to end the detention of children in adult prison facilities.

The Children Act mandates that detention be seen as a last resort for children who get into difficulties with the law. To most of us, the very phrase "child detention" seems wrong. It is our responsibility as a society and as a Parliament to ensure that we do everything possible to steer children away from criminality. This means zoning in on the types of economic and educational disadvantage that can lead young people into criminality. It also means having robust youth diversion programmes in place. This is a challenge at a time of limited budgets; however, we ultimately pay a much higher price, financially and socially, by failing to have a strong programme of intervention and prevention.

Hand in hand with economic deprivation is the scourge of drugs, which destroys many young lives. The television series "Love/Hate" brings into sharp relief the misery, violence and oppression associated with drug dealing in areas of urban deprivation. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is in a key position to reach out to children in danger of falling prey to ruthless drugs gangs and a focus on this area is of huge importance.

I note the Minister's commitment to better facilities in our child detention schools. I would welcome an update on how she and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, are working together on policy matters. As alluded to by the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, in various contexts, the lack of clear communication between related Departments, units and even personnel is a huge cultural difficulty in some parts of the public sector which we need to address. A close working relationship between the Departments of Justice and Equality and Children and Youth Affairs is absolutely essential if youth justice is to be given the priority it deserves.

While this is not the topic that we are dealing with today, I would like to raise the matter of direct provision for asylum seekers and the need for the State to ensure that the welfare of children in direct provision facilities is adequately protected. It is not a question of providing unnecessarily elaborate accommodation; it is a question of basic welfare. Again, this is an area that is under the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality, but I would hope that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs would have a strong voice in this matter. We must be aware at all times of the threats to child welfare in this day and age. Child abuse and neglect is, unfortunately, not an aspect of our history but an ongoing evil which requires constant vigilance and proactive measures to counter. Having a dedicated Minister with responsibility for children shows a clear statement of intent by the Government, but the Minister needs the co-operation and support of Cabinet and Parliament to achieve her worthy objectives. As the Fine Gael spokesperson on children and youth affairs in the Seanad, I certainly am anxious to play my part in assisting the Minister in advancing her legislative agenda in any way I can. I wish her continued success.