Vol. 408 No. 1
15 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health the plans he has to deal with the worsening problem of young people living rough in our streets, who get into trouble with the law and cannot then be placed in suitable rehabilitation centres.
The Government are very concerned about the problems of the young homeless and other children at risk and are taking urgent action to ensure that the welfare of these children is fully protected. The Government have given special responsibility to myself as Minister of State at the Department of Health to co-ordinate and integrate the work of the various Government agencies in their initiatives for dealing with this matter. The Departments of Education and Justice are the two other Departments most directly involved. I would like to outline the most important aspect of the initiatives in hand.
The Child Care Bill, which is currently before the Seanad and is expected to be enacted by the summer, contains important new provisions to assist young homeless people. It will impose a statutory duty on the health boards to promote the welfare of children up to the age of 18 years who are not receiving adequate care or protection. It will also require the health boards to investigate the circumstances of homeless children and, where necessary, to make alternative accommodation available for them.
In anticipation of the early enactment of the Bill, health boards have been directed to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation available for homeless young people in the areas, in co-operation with the various voluntary and Church groups active in this field. An immediate target is to increase to 64 the number of places for the young homeless available in the Dublin area and the first of the new places will come on stream in July.
Negotiations concerning a number of other projects in the Dublin area are at an advanced stage and will result in a further increase in available accommodation. I have asked the Eastern Health Board and the other parties concerned to expedite their efforts and I expect that most of these additional places will become available in the autumn.
Outside the Dublin area, a number of other initiatives for the young homeless are being supported. Approval has recently been given to the Southern Health Board to build a new group home at Shankiel Road, Cork. Funds have also been made available to develop a new unit for adolescents near Limerick. My Department are in discussion with a number of other health boards about proposals for developments to assist the young homeless in their areas.
The Programme for Economic and Social Progress makes specific provision for the implementation of the Bill, when passed, on a phased basis. One million pounds was allocated towards the implementation of the Bill in this year's budget and further funds will be provided in future budgets in accordance with the terms of the programme.
It is, of course, futile to provide additional places for homeless children without putting in place some support services to tackle the root cause of the problem; otherwise, the additional places provided will simply be filled as fast as they become available. Accordingly, we have agreed to provide additional social workers to work with children at risk and ten extra social workers are to be recruited immediately. Further recruitment will take place when a full evaluation of the problem has been completed.
I have a particular concern for the children of travelling families since all the evidence suggests that they are at particular risk. Accordingly, health boards have been instructed to review their plans for the delivery of health care to travellers and, in particular, to examine the need for mobile health care facilities. In this regard I am also examining the role and structure of the Monitoring Committee on Travellers to see how they can be made more effective and more responsive to the needs of travellers. These are the main initiatives which are taking place under the aegis of the Department of Health.
The provision of accommodation for children who get into trouble with the law is primarily the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Education. There are some difficulties in this regard at present due to the shortage of places for young offenders, particularly young female offenders. This is being tackled as a matter of urgency by the Department of Education and arrangements are well advanced to provide an additional eight to ten places for girls and 30 places for boys at the former Scoil Árd Mhuire premises in Lusk, County Dublin. The first of this accommodation is to be available in September of this year.
Are we obliged to listen to the Minister recite what the Minister for Justice is doing in relation to a problem? These questions are directed to the Minister for Health and, as you rightly pointed out, we are restricted on time.
The Chair has no control over Minister's replies. As usual the Chair is always anxious to facilitate Members who ask questions by permitting them to have the fullest information. That is the normal practice in this House.
We will not get any information on the second priority question if it takes 15 minutes to answer the first one.
I am simply outlining my responsibilities with regard to this very important question which was tabled, and I am anxious to give a proper reply.
This is Question Time and not a debate.
As I have said, the first of this accommodation is to be available in September of this year. A new purpose-built school for 20 young female offenders is being planned for Finglas and will be completed in 1993. I am advised that when all these facilities are in place there should be sufficient accommodation available for children appearing before the courts who require custodial care. Again, of course, I would like to emphasise that the primary aim here is the prevention of crime in the first instance. With this in mind the Minister for Justice has taken a number of initiatives in relation to the issue particularly with regard to the strengthening of the juvenile liaison officer scheme, establishment of the garda school programme and community projects organised in conjunction with the probation service. This whole issue is a matter of serious concern to me, to the Department of Health and to the Government. That is why I have taken the trouble to outline to the Deputy and to this House some of the most important initiatives which are in hand at present.
I am also taking a very keen interest in this issue. There are frequent meetings of an interdepartmental group under my chairmanship which is considering a wide range of issues in relation to children and in particular is initiating a range of measures to solve the problem of homelessness among young people together with that of crime and its consequences.
Is the Minister aware that of 26 young homeless people who applied for accommodation in Dublin in January only nine were placed appropriately? The most recent study shows that there are 400 homeless young people in Dublin and 74 in Cork. The Minister's plan to provide places is grossly inadequate. Would he agree that there is no provision for specially disturbed children who are homeless? Is he aware that research has shown that 25 per cent of young homeless people have been involved in prostitution and 70 per cent in abuse of alcohol, drugs and solvents? Would he not agree that what is needed here is a much greater budgetary commitment to this problem which has not been addressed by the Government despite plans stretching into the distant future?
I certainly do not agree that the Government are not tackling this issue. They most certainly are tackling it and evidence of this is the Government's decisions to provide £1 million in this year's budget, money which is currently being spent in the provision of places for young homeless people. The Minister for Health and I, in operating this initiative to provide places for young homeless, have been in touch with each health board and have determined that we will provide, through the health boards and the voluntary sector, a specific number of additional places for young homeless people during the course of this year. We have set targets in that regard.
Is the Minister aware that since mid-1984 the number of places available to young homeless people has declined by 100? Despite the Minister's projections there are fewer places for young homeless people and more of these people on the streets.
I am aware that it is very important that this whole issue be tackled in a co-ordinated fashion. Certainly throughout the early part of the eighties this was probably not the case. There was too much reliance on the voluntary sector, but that position is now changing. Each health board will be specifically involved in assisting with the provision of additional places. This will be tackled on a co-ordinated basis, supported by resources provided in this year's budget. With that twin approach we will provide the additional places that are required.
I do not accept the figures quoted by Deputy Bruton with regard to the total number of homeless people. The figure of several hundred is taken from a report of some years ago which took into account all the contacts made by homeless people with voluntary organisations and health boards, particularly in the Eastern Health Board region. The figures appear high but they are the cumulative figures. On one night, the Eastern Health Board carried out a physical check, through their own professional and trained staff who are informed on these matters, and found nowhere near that number. However, the Minister for Health and I are concerned if even one young person is sleeping rough. Our efforts in this regard aim to provide sufficient places for young homeless as well as providing the support staff to ensure that young homeless people will be reunited as quickly as possible with their homes instead of being left without any support in places accommodating young homeless people. We want to provide a structure which will return young people who, for a variety of reasons, are homeless, to their own homes.
This first priority question has taken precisely ten minutes of the 15 minutes available to us under Standing Orders for dealing with priority questions. The Chair has repeatedly asked for co-operation and understanding in disposing of priority questions and he is getting rather tired of it.
The Chair should not look at this side of the House.
I do not have any control over the Minister's replies.
On a point of order the Chair is aware that we have discussed this problem at meetings of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and there was agreement that a recommendation would be made to Ministers to curtail their replies.
Obviously, it is a matter that is not being acted upon. Let us not waste any further time. I am concerned about the utilisation of priority time to the best possible advantage for the Deputies involved. We will now move to Question No. 16.
