Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she is considering separating child care services from the Health Service Executive in view of the opinions expressed by the chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25896/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Child Care Act 1991 provides that it shall be a function of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. I advised the House in the course of the recent debate on the Implementation of the Ryan Commission recommendations that it is not my intention to separate the child welfare and protection service from the HSE.

A fundamental aspect of a successful child care system is the ability to access early interventions such as therapy services delivered by health professionals or supports offered by a public health nurse. In particular, there is an essential requirement to integrate our child protection services as part of the development of multidisciplinary services. There is also a risk that any decision to create a separate service would lose ground as it would take several years to establish a new structure with valuable time lost in the bureaucracy of creating a new entity.