Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 572: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the role of the special rapporteurs to audit legal developments for the protection of the child; the way in which their role differs from the Ombudsman for Children's role; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28146/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Two Special Rapporteurs for Child Protection were appointed by the Government in June 2006.

The functions of the Rapporteurs are as follows: to keep under review and to audit legal developments for the protection of children; to assess what impact, if any, litigation in national and international courts will have on child protection; to prepare, annually, a report setting out the previous years work. This report will be submitted to Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann for consideration and debate and be published, and the Rapporteurs will be entitled to consult with Departments of Government and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children about initiatives in relation to child protection legislation to enhance that protection.

This is the first occasion that this mechanism has been used by an Irish Government and I am confident that it will be a very valuable addition to the institutions already in place for the protection of children.

The Office of the Ombudsman for Children was established under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 and is a statutory independent body with two main functions, to promote the rights and welfare of children and to examine and investigate complaints against schools and voluntary hospitals where an action may have adversely affected a child.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 573: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the Government's response to the Ombudsman for Children's first report to the UN special committee in 2006; the subsequent actions the Government has taken; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28147/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is referring to the Report of the Ombudsman for Children to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which was submitted in April 2006.

Ireland ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child without reservation in September 1992. As part of the process of evaluating a county's progress in implementing the Convention, the Committee considers periodic State reports, in conjunction with shadow reports submitted by bodies concerned with children's rights and welfare within the State. Ireland submitted its Second Report in July 2005 to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Report of the Ombudsman for Children was submitted subsequently as a shadow report in April of this year.

Ireland appeared before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva on 20th September 2006 in accordance with Article 44 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to the Second Report.

The State delegation which I led outlined the progress that has been achieved in relation to the increased and enhanced development of policies and services for children since Ireland's last appearance before the Committee in 1998.

The Committee made reference to a number of significant developments, particularly the establishment of the Ombudsman for Children's Office, the publication of the National Children's Strategy, the establishment of the Office of the Minister for Children and the appointment of a Minister for Children who, for the first time, sits at the Cabinet table.

A wide range of issues were covered by the Committee in their examination of Ireland's Second Report, including the assertion of children's rights within the Constitution, separated children seeking asylum, the age of criminal responsibility specifically in relation to the provision to allow for 10 and 11 year olds to be charged with a serious offence and the availability of appropriate mental health services for children. We are currently awaiting the Concluding Comments of the Committee which are due to be published on 29th September, 2006.