Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of unaccompanied minors currently residing in hostel accommodation; the number of these hostels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11883/11]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Unaccompanied minors seeking asylum are in need of care and protection under the Child Care Act 1991 and are entitled to the same treatment and rights as indigenous young people. The immediate and the ongoing needs of separated children seeking asylum relating to accommodation, medical and social needs as well as their application for refugee status are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive in accordance with the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) and the Child Care Act 1991. Where children are identified by An Garda Síochána, at the point of entry, as being separated children seeking asylum, they are placed into the care of the HSE.

In accordance with the Implementation Plan on the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse 2009, which contained a commitment that the HSE would end the use of separately run hostels for separated children seeking asylum and accommodate children in mainstream care, on a par with other children in the care system, the HSE phased out the hostel type of care arrangement with the provision of care for separated children seeking asylum being provided on a national basis with each child cared for in foster care or a residential care placement or equivalent. These placements are subject to the implementation of national standards. Accordingly, since January 2010, hostels have not been used to accommodate unaccompanied minors.

The HSE has developed a national policy on the standard of services to be provided to separated children seeking asylum. The policy seeks to achieve equity and equality of services to separated children seeking asylum vis-À-vis indigenous or resident children and to ensure that there is no differentiation of care provision, care practices, care priorities, standards or protocols.

The HSE in cooperation with the Refugee Integration Agency, operated by Department of Justice and Law Reform, has agreed a policy for the transfer of separated children into adult services once they reach the age of 18.