Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is considering giving any statutory powers to the National Board for Safeguarding Children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40307/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Health Service Executive is the body charged with statutory authority for child protection and welfare matters. It carries out this remit through its Children and Family Services directorate, under Mr. Gordon Jeyes, National Director. It should be emphasised that the remit of the HSE covers all organisations and individuals.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children is a Church body which offers advice on best practice in safeguarding children, assists in the development of safeguarding policy, procedures and practice, and monitors such practice within the Catholic Church. I have no specific function in relation to the constitution and functions of the National Board. However, at my request the HSE over recent months has developed a closer working relationship with the National Board, and this is a very welcome development. The focus of this engagement is on ensuring that the Catholic Church is reporting all allegations of abuse to the statutory authorities in line with the Children First National Guidance, and that it has in place the necessary safeguarding structures nationally.

The roll out of Children First will require all sectors and organisations working with children, including the faith sector, to put in place robust safeguarding arrangements, including internal audit of practice. I very much welcome the work undertaken to date by the National Board to strengthen child protection practices in the Catholic Church in line with this objective.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the additional resources made available to her to establish the child and family support agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40329/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I established the Task Force on the Child and Family Support Agency in September 2011 under the chairmanship of Ms Maureen Lynott. The Task Force will advise my Department in regard to the necessary transition programme to establish a Child and Family Support Agency, and will base its work on best practice in child welfare, family support and public administration; consistent with the Government's public sector reform agenda. In relation to the Agency it has been asked to: ·

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Propose a vision and the principles to guide operations; ·

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Advise on the appropriate service responsibilities, and the delivery of

same; ·

Review existing financial, staffing and corporate resources; and propose

a methodology for resource allocation; ·

Propose an organisational design and operating child welfare and

protection service model; ·

Prepare a detailed implementation plan; ·

Identify the main priorities and core relationships required; ·

Oversee the implementation and monitor progress, pending

establishment of the Agency.

The Task Force met for the eighth time earlier this week. I look forward to receiving the report of its work, which will inform preparations for the new Agency, including the drafting of legislation.

Last week, I announced that a dedicated new budget sub-head had been established for the first time in the HSE Vote, in preparation for the planned establishment of the Agency in 2013. A provision of €568m has been made for 2012. The equivalent provision in 2011 was €587m. The reduction of 3% is based on targets for procurement, employment control framework, pay and other efficiency savings applying more generally within the health service Estimate. A process is currently underway in conjunction with the HSE to further review and refine the detailed components of this sub-head. Additional provision in the order of €2.2 million has been made for 2012, within my Department's Vote, for some initial requirements associated with the establishment of the new Child and Family Support Agency and related transitional arrangements. I am firmly committed to the transformation of Ireland's child protection and welfare services. Central to this is delivering transparent and accountable management and budgeting. The establishment for the first time of a dedicated budget sub-head within the HSE Vote for children and families is an important part of the ongoing 'change agenda', which is aimed at strengthening organisation capacity, business processes and systems, and will pave the way for the transition to the new Child and Family Support Agency in 2013. Management of these services will be led by the National Director (Mr Gordon Jeyes) who already has a very close working relationship with me and my Department. These developments are an integral part of preparations for the new stand alone Agency. I am anxious to advance the full establishment of the Agency at as early a date as possible, subject to the work of the Task Force and necessary legislature provision. I would envisage tabling legislation before the House next year to provide for the Agency's setting up in 2013.

The expenditure being committed to child and family services in 2012, through my Department and the new dedicated sub-head in the HSE Vote, demonstrates the Government's ongoing commitment to children and to improving their lives and opportunities. While savings must be made in some areas, the approach to expenditure priorities for 2012 is underpinned by a commitment to improving outcomes for children, in particular through transforming child and family services and the reform of funding streams and delivery mechanisms across all programmes in order to make the best possible use of resources. My Department will continue to work to deliver on its mandate to promote better outcomes for children and young people.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Question 32: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the impact she believes the 2% efficiency target for child care announced in budget 2012 will have on child care services; in view of this cut the way she envisages putting the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40353/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Last week, I announced that a dedicated new budget sub-head had been established for the first time in the HSE Vote, in preparation for the planned establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency in 2013. A provision of €568m has been made for 2012. A process is currently underway in conjunction with the HSE to further review and refine the detailed components of this sub-head. The provision for the first time of a dedicated budget for children and families within the HSE Vote will pave the way for the establishment of the new Agency in 2013. This dedicated budget will be managed by the National Director of Children and Family Services and his staff in support of the process of operational improvement in child protection and welfare services which he is leading. Central to this reform is the delivery of transparent and accountable management and budgeting.

The provision of €568 million includes a 2% efficiency adjustment. In the context of public service reform and the difficulties in the national finances, all areas in receipt of public funds are required to pursue greater efficiencies and to find new ways of achieving policy objectives. The HSE is currently developing its Service Plan and this will set out the detailed level of service provision for next year, including in respect of children and families. My Department is working closely with the Department of Health in relation to the Service Plan. I expect the continued commitment by the HSE to the full implementation of Children First to be a key feature of the HSE Service Plan for next year.

I launched the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children on the 15th July, 2011. The Guidance deals with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. It sets out a number of key messages relating to the duty to protect children. Among these are that the safety and welfare of children is everyone's responsibility, that children will have safer lives where everyone is attentive to their well-being and that people who work with children across a range of areas understand their responsibility for safe practice and the reporting of concerns. The Guidance sets out specific protocols for HSE social workers, Gardaí and other front line staff in dealing with suspected abuse. The scope of Children First extends beyond the reporting of suspected abuse. It emphasises the importance of multi disciplinary, inter-agency working in the management of such concerns. Key to this is the sharing of information between agencies and disciplines in the best interests of children and the need for full co-operation to ensure better outcomes.

My Department is finalising legislative proposals to make compliance with the Children First Guidance a statutory obligation. The legislation will reflect a broad based approach to compliance with obligations extending beyond reporting to one of safeguarding children at risk and the objective will be to ensure the greater protection of children by strengthening the existing system for reporting and responding to suspected child abuse.

Putting Children First on a statutory footing was a key recommendation of the Ryan Report and went hand-in-hand with other recommendations including the commitment to recruit an additional 270 social workers. These posts were exempted from the public service recruitment moratorium and will significantly strengthen the capacity of the state's child protection and family support services.

It is also important to recognize that the original Children First Guidelines were in place for over a decade and as such are not new in terms of the responsibilities placed on organisations working with children. In this regard, it should be emphasised that there are already very significant resources in place to support the implementation of Children First. In the case of the HSE and An Garda Síochána, the two statutory agencies with particular responsibilities for the assessment and investigation of child welfare and protection concerns, Children First forms an integral part of their existing operations and practices. For example, the HSE has in place a network of personnel to provide training, information and advice on the implementation of Children First. It is currently delivering a programme of information and training on the new Guidance across the country. It recently published a Child Welfare and Protection Practice Handbook for all its staff in order to achieve consistency and Children First compliance across all its authorities.

The consistent implementation of the Children First Guidance across all sectors working with children is a high priority for Government. The new revised Guidance, together with the introduction of legislation, is designed to heighten societal awareness of the importance of safeguarding children. The difference is that compliance with the Guidance will became mandatory. While this may give rise to an increase in the number of child protection referrals to the statutory authorities it will be equally important for the HSE, as part of its ongoing reform programme, to ensure that its services are re-balanced with an emphasis on primary prevention and family support for child welfare cases and interventions, including assessment of current risk, where child protection concerns are evident. My Department is chairing an Inter Departmental Committee to oversee progress in implementing the Guidance across Government.