Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 244: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she will make a statement on the purpose and function of the Special Residential Services Board; the number of members on the Special Residential Services Board; the remuneration of the board; the number of children the board is responsible for; the number of residential beds the board is responsible for; and the number of care staff the board is responsible for. [30138/05]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Special Residential Services Board is provided for under Part 11 of the Children Act 2001. The board was established on a statutory basis on 7 November 2003.

The purpose of the board is to advise the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science on policy relating to the remand and detention of children and ensure the efficient, effective and co-ordinated delivery of services to children in respect of whom children detention orders or special care orders are made.

The functions of the board are defined in Part 11 — section 227 (1)(a)-(i), but in brief are: to advise the Ministers on policy issues relating to the remand and detention of children, and on the provision of accommodation and services to detained children; to co-ordinate the delivery of services to detained children and to ensure appropriate and efficient utilisation of the schools and units where children are detained; to liaise with and advise the courts, on request, on appropriate placements for offending and non-offending children; to give the board's views to the courts on special care applications; to arrange and take part in seminars and conferences to promote agency co-ordination and the use of best practice; to collect, maintain, research and evaluate statistics and other data relating to children, to inform policy; and to ensure that a co-ordinated approach is adopted in the development and provision of the necessary programmes, physical infrastructure and training of staff in the units.

The membership of the board is set out in section 230 of the Children Act 2001 and consists of the chair and 12 other members. In accordance with the Act, the membership of the board is comprised of: three representatives of the children detention schools, nominated by the Minister for Education and Science; three representatives of the Health Service Executive; three experts in child care; three experts in the educational needs of detained children, nominated by the Minister for Education and Science, of whom one shall be a member of the school attendance service; and a probation and welfare officer nominated by the principal probation and welfare officer.

The term of office of the chairperson and other members of the board shall not be for more than four years, and each member shall be eligible for re-appointment. The board members of the Special Residential Services Board are not remunerated. In accordance with section 234 of the Act, the chairperson receives an annual stipend of €10,157.90, payment of which was approved by my Department. That stipend is paid in accordance with the provisions of the code of practice for the governance of State bodies.

The children detained in children detention schools are the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science, and the children detained in special care units are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. The Special Residential Services Board is not directly responsible for the provision of beds in special residential care, but the board monitors the level of provision and use of 114 beds in children detention schools and 30 beds in special care units to advise the Ministers on policy, with a view to co-ordination, and to inform best practice.

The care staff employed in special residential care are not the direct responsibility of the Special Residential Services Board, but the board has a role in ensuring a co-ordinated approach to the training of the staff of children detention schools and special care units.