Vol. 262 No. 5
asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a report published by CARE which includes a suggestion that his Department should become primarily responsible for children's services in this country; and if he will indicate whether his Department will give serious consideration to this proposal.
17.
asked the Minister for Health if he has received a copy of the CARE memorandum on deprived children and children's services in Ireland; and what action he proposes taking on the fundamental recommendation of the report to place existing and future services under one Government Department.
18.
asked the Minister for Health the steps which will be taken by the Government to implement the recommendations of the campaign for the care of deprived children.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to reply to Questions Nos. 16 to 18 together.
The recommendation that, broadly, the services for deprived children be made the responsibility of one Department has been under consideration in the three Departments mainly concerned—Health, Education and Justice, but a decision has not yet been taken.
Meanwhile steps are continuing to improve the services for these children.
When are we likely to have a Government decision on such matters in view of the comprehensive reasons given in the CARE Report as to why such a step should now be expedited by the Government?
I am unable to say, but in the meantime the three Departments are looking into the recommendations that were in the Kennedy Report published in November, 1970, and which have been repeated, embellished and perhaps expanded, in the CARE Report.
Is the Minister aware of the immense disappointment that it has taken over two years to implement even some of the more modest recommendations contained in the Kennedy Report and that it is this sense of frustration which has led people to draw further attention to this matter in this publication which emphasises that there are over 6,000 children who are deprived of some of the essentials of life, some of the very fundamentals to something more than a mere existence?
The community services which I have been making every effort to expand in every area will be able to supply some of the needs of these children, the development of social service councils and the development of social workers. The work of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been growing in content and the society are now subventioned by the State. That kind of work has been going on constantly. The Deputy will also be aware of the steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Kennedy Report on industrial schools that were referred to by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education on 31st May— Volume 261, column 866, of the Official Report. He made a statement indicating that there has been very considerable progress in regard to this matter. I do not think I need read the whole of what he said but there has been continuous progress in developing both the teaching arrangements and also providing for the buildings that were recommended in this connection.
Surely the Minister agrees that all the bodies he has mentioned and all the reports unanimously agreed that there should be a full-scale rationalisation between Health, Education and Justice and that there should be a separate child care division set up under one Government Department? Surely in the light of the unanimity and widespread agreement within such reports and bodies this decision of the Government should not cause any agony on his part? After all they have now been thinking about it for the past two years.
I agree that a decision has to be made. For example, in connection with the provision of education and health facilities for mentally handicapped persons I would regard as fairly satisfactory the co-ordination between the Department of Education and my Department. I am not arguing from that that a decision might not be made following the recommendation of the report. I am merely saying that we have done a great deal of work in establishing a combination of health care facilities and schools for mentally handicapped, the two Departments working closely together through a co-ordinating committee. So it is not impossible to effect useful work through the operations of two separate Departments.
