Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 33: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children who have stayed overnight in Garda stations to date in 2012, broken down by division and month, due to a lack of an out-of-hours child protection unit. [29756/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Responsibility for matters relating to An Garda Siochana rests primarily with my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality. Children, who are not being arrested or detained, may come into the care of An Garda Síochána for a number of reasons:

· lost children brought to a Garda station;

· child of an arrested person - where the child remains in the control of the An Garda Síochána for a period of time;

· section 12 of the Child Care Act 1999 is invoked and the child is removed from a dangerous situation for his / her protection and cared for by An Garda Síochána for a period of time,

· circumstances where a child seeks the services of the Health Service Executive (HSE), via a Garda station.

Current Garda policy caters for the provision of medical assistance as necessary; the removal of the child to hospital if required; the safe delivery of the child into the custody of the Health Service Executive (HSE) in accordance with section 12, Child Care Act, 1991; and any other assistance to ensure the health and well-being of the child while in Garda care.

At present the Health Service Executive provides out-of-hours emergency services for children at risk in the greater Dublin area through the Crisis Intervention Service, and outside the greater Dublin area through the Emergency Place of Safety Service. The Crisis Intervention Service provides out-of-hours emergency social work assistance to young people aged under 18 years. The CIS service has informed me that they successfully placed all children, with the exception of one child on one occasion, in either emergency foster care or in a hostel, who sought their assistance in 2011.

Outside the greater Dublin area, the HSE operates an Emergency Place of Safety Service whereby Gardai can access an emergency placement for children found to be in need of a placement out-of-hours. All Gardai Stations have a national contact phone number where a social worker is available for consultation, and where appropriate will arrange a placement with an emergency foster carers who provide a placement for one night, or over a weekend for a maximum of 3 nights. The Gardai will consult with the social worker as to the best course of action on occasions where a child may be intoxicated, in need of a health or psychiatric assessment or showing aggressive behaviour regarding the most appropriate course of action. Where a child's main issue is that of a placement, the social worker will make a suitable arrangement.

While I have been informed by the Department of Justice and Equality that statistics for the number of children who have remained in a Garda station overnight in the care of An Garda Síochána are not readily or centrally available, I understand that as a result of the current policy and services available, the reasons for children to stay overnight in a Gardai station due to a lack of suitable placements has been reduced to a minimum. However I have asked the HSE to look into any situation where a child is reported to have been kept overnight in a Gardai Station and to report to me on the reasons for this.

Furthermore, notwithstanding the current availability of service to Gardai, the HSE is currently engaged in work on the development of nationwide models for 24-hour social work assistance to be informed on the ongoing pilots projects in Cork and Donegal.