Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures she proposes to put in place to uphold the rights of parents in their dealings with Government agencies charged with child protection; if she will consider putting in place a parents' charter in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46712/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The HSE provides a wide range of services to children and families in the context of the Child Care Act, 1991 and other child care and related legislation. Services are planned and delivered in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and national child care policy which provides, inter alia, that services and staff will be:

- Child Centred: the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration and children’s wishes and feelings should be given due regard;

- Family Oriented: the family generally affords the best environment for raising children and external intervention should be to support and empower families within the community;

- Equitable:all children should have equality of opportunity in relation to access, to participation in and derive benefit from the services delivered and have the necessary levels of quality support to achieve this. A key priority in promoting a more equitable society for children is to target investment at those most at risk;

- Inclusive: the diversity of children's experiences, cultures and lifestyles must be recognised and given expression;

- Action Orientated: service delivery needs to be clearly focused on achieving specified results to agreed standards in a targeted and cost-effective manner;

- Integrated: measures should be taken in partnership, within and between relevant players, be it the State, the voluntary/community sector and families; services for children should be delivered in a co-ordinated, coherent and effective manner through integrated needs analysis, policy planning and service delivery.

In the provision of services the HSE always seeks to ensure that there is an appropriate balance struck between the legislative requirement:

- to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection;

- to have regard to the rights and duties of parents; and

- the need to have regard to the principle that it is generally in the best interests of a child to be brought up in his own family.

In this regard the HSE Child Protection and Welfare Handbook makes the following two statements:

- “A proper balance must be struck between protecting children and respecting the rights and needs of parents/carers and families. Where there is conflict, the child’s welfare must come first”;

- “Parents/carers have a right to respect and should be consulted and involved in matters that concern their family”.

HSE Children and Family Services routinely include parents in child care proceedings including child protection conferences and children in care reviews. In regard to meeting the needs of children who may require special care and protection the HSE is empowered under the Children Act, 2001 to convene a Family Welfare Conference. In effectively safeguarding the welfare of children the HSE seeks to balance decisive action in the interest of the safety of children with respect for parental and family rights and responsibilities. In this regard the HSE highlights the crucial role of wider community engagement in safeguarding and emphasizes the need to ensure that safeguarding is on the agenda of community initiatives and that personal responsibility, community contribution and state support are clearly delineated and complementary.

The Child Care Act, 1991, is the key piece of legislation governing the role of the State in the area of child protection. This Act makes explicit reference to the rights of parents under the Constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment does not give the State any additional rights to interfere in families - the only circumstances in which the State can intervene is in exceptional cases where the parents fail in their duty towards their children to such an extent that safety or welfare of any of their children is likely to be prejudicially affected, the State as guardian of the common good shall, by proportionate means as provided by law, endeavour to supply the place of the parents, but always with due regard for the natural and imprescriptible rights of the child. Article 41 - recognising the right of the family and Articles 42.1 - 42.4 recognising the role of the family as the natural educator of the child, remain unchanged. The rights and duties of parents remain unchanged. It remains the prerogative of parents to act as protector of the child's interests and indeed the person best situated to promote the rights of their children under the new Article 42A.1 - save in those exceptional circumstances referred to above where the State must "supply the place" of parents.

In relation to the "best interest" principle - this applies in defined proceedings where there has either been (i) parental failure in the context of care proceeding (ii) adoption or (iii) where the parents (or guardians) of a child are themselves in dispute with each other about the custody and care arrangements for their child. Constitutional recognition of the principle that the best interests of the child should be the paramount consideration in these proceedings means that this principle should now be a determinative factor in the resolution of such proceedings having regard to the constitutional rights of the family, whereas currently the best interests of the child can only be a determinative factor subject to the constitutional rights of the family.