Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she approves or acquiesces to situations whereby 16 year old girls or younger leave home without parents' consent in the company of older men; if it is the policy of her Department to take any action in such circumstances; if such situations in respect of minors, are approved or given tacit recognition; if her attention has been drawn to the serious consequences in the event of such activity going unchallenged; if the Constitution embraces such activity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29553/06]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Child Care Act 1991 focuses on the child and the promotion of the child's welfare. It also places a specific duty on the Health Service Executive to identify children who are not receiving adequate care and protection and to promote their welfare by providing child care and family support services. This Act underpins the basic tenet that the welfare of the child is of paramount importance. Therefore, should a case such as that outlined by the Deputy, come to the attention of the Health Service Executive, there is an onus on the HSE to determine whether such a young person is at risk and is in need of care and protection. As the Deputy will be aware the intervention required would of course be dependent on the circumstances of the individual case and the needs identified by the HSE assessment.

In addition to the legal obligations put in place by the Child Care Act, Section 17 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, 1997 sets out provisions relating to the unlawful detaining of children under 16 years of age and this section is summarised as follows: — It is an offence for a person to, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, intentionally take or detain a child under the age of 16 years or cause a child under that age to be so taken or detained, so as to remove the child from lawful control of any person who has lawful control of that child, or so as to keep him or her out of the lawful control of any person entitled to lawful control over the child.