James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the House to recommend Dr. Niall Muldoon for appointment by the President to be the new Ombudsman for Children. Senators will be aware that the position of Ombudsman for Children fell vacant on the resignation of Ms Emily Logan in September 2014, following her appointment as chief commissioner of the newly established Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Dr. Muldoon was selected following a comprehensive independent recruitment and selection process which was conducted at my request by the Public Appointments Service. The Government at its meeting of 3 February 2015 approved the nomination of Dr. Niall Muldoon for appointment by the President as Ombudsman for Children in accordance with the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002.

The relevant legislative provisions with regard to appointment to the Office of Ombudsman for Children are contained in section 4 of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002, section 4(2) of which provides that, "The appointment of a person to be the Ombudsman for Children shall be made by the President upon resolution passed by Dáil Éireann and by Seanad Éireann recommending the appointment of the person". This is the reason I am bringing the motion before the House. Section 4(4) of the Act states that a person appointed to be the Ombudsman for Children shall hold the office of Ombudsman for Children for a term of six years and may be reappointed once only to that office for a second term.

The first Ombudsman for Children. Ms. Emily Logan, was appointed on 18 December 2003 for a six-year term of office and was reappointed with effect from 18 December 2009 for a further six-year term. There was unanimous support in both Houses for these appointments. I would like to acknowledge Ms. Logan and record my appreciation for the work she has done as the first Ombudsman for Children and her achievements over ten years in building that office and working tirelessly for the rights and welfare of children. I wish her every success in her new career.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children was established under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 to promote and safeguard the rights and welfare of children. The Ombudsman for Children is independent of the Government and is accountable to the Oireachtas. The office is in place to provide an additional protection for children and, in this context, it is crucial that the Ombudsman for Children has the ability to advocate independently for children. The key functions of the role are to promote and safeguard the rights and welfare of children, to examine and investigate complaints about services provided to children, to provide advice regarding children's rights and conduct research on relevant issues.

The remit of the Ombudsman for Children has been significantly expanded and largely aligned with the remit of the Ombudsman with effect from May 2013 as a result of the changes enacted in the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012. The responsibility for the Office of the Ombudsman for Children transferred to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from the Minister for Health with effect from 3 June 2011. The role of the Minister is limited primarily to governance matters, particularly staffing and finance, given the Ombudsman for Children's statutory independence.

The process which resulted in Dr. Muldoon's selection began in August 2014 with meetings between officials in my Department and colleagues in the Public Appointments Service, PAS. In September 2014, I announced that the PAS would engage in an independent process to find a suitable replacement to fill this important role. The PAS is recognised as a centre of excellence for public service recruitment and selection across a range of posts from entry level to professional, technical and senior executive positions. The recruitment process was conducted in accordance with the codes of practice of the Commission for Public Service Appointments and the PAS ensured that the process adhered to the principles of fairness, quality and recruitment on merit.

The PAS advertised the position on 31 October 2014 on its website, www.publicjobs.ie. The job was promoted through international channels, in order to give the widest scope for potential applicants in comparable jurisdictions. Applications for the post were received from a wide range of candidates inside and outside the State with a diverse range of backgrounds. I was pleased and encouraged at the interest in this important role. Some 97 eligible applicants were considered by a selection board for shortlisting. Some 12 candidates were shortlisted for preliminary interview on the 16 and 17 of December. Five of these candidates were then selected for final interview and assessment, which took place on 28 January 2015. Dr. Niall Muldoon was the successful candidate to emerge from this rigorous process.

A unique element of this recruitment process was the involvement of children at all stages. There were two consultation workshops with children and young people on 20 and 21 October 2014 to provide input into the final personal specification and the advertisement for the post. I attended both of these consultations, the first with a younger group aged eight to 12 years and the second with an older group aged 13 to 17. At these consultations, a panel of children was selected to become involved in a role play assessment as part of the final selection process.

The final assessment included a role play session for each candidate with 11 children based on topics developed by the children themselves. The final interview included a presentation. Two children were involved with the interview board in assessing the presentation but the children were not involved in assessing the other competencies examined by the adult members of the final interview board.

Dr. Muldoon is currently director of investigations at the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. He has been in this role for two and a half years and oversees the handling of almost 1,600 complaints per year made by, or on behalf of, children and young people about public bodies such as the HSE, schools and voluntary hospitals. He ensures that a culture of independence, impartiality and child centredness underpins the work at all times. Prior to joining the Office of the Ombudsman for Children Dr. Muldoon spent five years as national clinical director of CARI, a children's charity, based in Dublin, Limerick and Cork, providing therapy and support to children and families affected by sexual abuse.

He is a registered clinical and counselling psychologist who has worked in the area of child protection for almost 20 years. He spent ten years working in the Granada Institute providing therapy, risk assessments and support to adults who had sexually offended against children and those who had been abused as children. He was regularly called upon to provide expert testimony in the courts. He also has extensive experience of lecturing up to doctoral level in both TCD and UCD. His experience shows he has the range of professional and academic experience that makes him suitable for the position. The rigorous assessment and selection process conducted by the PAS concluded he was the best candidate for the job. I wish him every success in this important and vital role. I am happy to recommend the adoption of this resolution by the House. I thank the children who participated in the process.