Written answers

Thursday, 9 July 2009

Department of Health and Children

Child Protection

12:00 pm

Photo of Tom HayesTom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the steps she will take to ensure that gardaí, social workers, Health Service Executive staff and education staff are working together in terms of child protection; the person whose responsibility it is to deal with child protection issues; the service that people should go to in order to highlight any specific concerns that they may have; the number of social workers that are assigned to families here; the ratio to the number of children here; and the way this compares to the OECD average. [29369/09]

Photo of Barry AndrewsBarry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The development of robust, responsive and appropriate child welfare and protection services is a priority for the Government. National over-arching guidelines for individuals and agencies dealing with children are set out in "Children First".

The guidelines, which were published in 1999 and recently reviewed, offer guidance to health professionals, teachers, members of the Garda Síochána and the many people in sporting, cultural, community and voluntary organisations who come into regular contact with children. The objectives of the guidelines are: to improve the identification, reporting, assessment, treatment and management of child abuse; to facilitate effective child protection work by emphasising the importance of family support services and the need for clarity of responsibility between various professional disciplines; to maximise the capacity of staff and organisations to protect children effectively; to consolidate inter-agency co-operation based on clarity of responsibility, co-ordination of information, and partnership arrangements between disciplines and agencies; to clarify and promote mutual understanding among statutory and voluntary organisations about the contributions of different disciplines and professions to child protection.

The key message in "Children First" is that responsibility for protecting children must be shared by all adults. Anyone who works with, has responsibility for, or comes into contact with children should be aware of the signs of abuse, be alert to the possibility of abuse, and be familiar with the basic procedures to report their concerns. Chapter 4 of the Guidelines sets out in detail the reporting procedures for anyone who has a concern, with the principal point of contact being the HSE.

A good example of co-operation in this area is the recent initiative between the Gardaí and the HSE that has seen a nationwide system put in place whereby the Gardaí can access an appropriate place of safety for children at risk out of hours. This service aims to ensure that such children are provided with an appropriate emergency place of safety, thereby reducing or eliminating social admissions of children in an acute hospital setting. The additional operational questions raised by the Deputy have been referred to the HSE for direct reply.

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