Vol. 433 No. 7
3 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for Health the specific measures, if any, that have been introduced in the health boards to give effect to the recommendations of the report of the Kilkenny Incest Inquiry since the publication of that report in April 1993.
I should point out that the report of the Kilkenny Incest Investigation was published on 25 May last, not in April as suggested in the Deputy's question.
Since then a great deal of time and attention has been devoted, both within my Department and in the health boards, to follow-up on the many recommendations made in the report. The central recommendation in the report relates to the implementation of the Child Care Act and, in particular, those provisions which deal with the taking of children into care and which stengthen the powers of health boards, the gardaí and the courts in relation to children at risk.
As I have previously informed the House, the Government has accepted this recommendation and is committed to the full implementation of the Act by the end of 1996. A sum of £5 million has been set aside this year so that we can begin the task of putting in place the necessary staff, structures, services and facilities to operate the new legislation.
The health boards have been working intensively with my Department over the last few weeks to prepare plans for the development of child care and family support services in the light of the funding now available and the time-scale that has been determined by Government for the full operation of the Act. Detailed proposals have been submitted to my Department and I expect to be in a position to convey the necessary approvals within a matter of days. Among the areas that have been targeted for development are: extra community care staff including social workers, child care workers and psychologists, establishment of child psychiatric teams particularly in areas where none exists at present, new residential and therapeutic units, hostels for homeless children, refuges for battered wives, home makers for families under stress, family placements for difficult adolescents, improved financial support for voluntary bodies and expansion of day care services for children at risk.
I assure the House that the Kilkenny report is being urgently pursued and that the developments now under way will result in a significant improvement in the range and quality of our child care services, particularly those aimed at children who have been or are at risk of being abused and neglected.
Despite the Minister's protestations, it is almost two months since the publication of the report on the Kilkenny incest case. This report was heralded as being a milestone in child care policy development. It is four months since the details of that case were revealed in the Central Criminal Court and it is two years since the 1991 Act, which was 20 years agrowing, was signed into law. The Minister has not justified the apparent inaction by his Department in implementing the recommendations of that report. Would the Minister not agree that nothing has changed in the way child abuse cases are dealt with at the coalface? The practices which were referred to in the Kilkenny incest case are still in place, no extra resources have been provided and management practices have not been changed. Is the Minister aware that social workers are living with the fear that hundreds of horrific cases of child abuse are not merely waiting to happen but are waiting to be discovered? Social workers think that they are expected——
I am sorry to interrupt the Deputy but I am very anxious that we would proceed by way of supplementary questions.
I wish to add another timeframe to the litany of timeframes outlined by the Deputy. In a few days time I will be six months in office. Few issues have been addressed as expeditiously as the Kilkenny incest case. I say this to give due credit to the officials in my Department who are charged with responsibility for this area. During the few weeks since the report was published on 18 May, I have established a child care policy unit within my Department dedicated specifically to this task. That unit has visited each health board area and discussed with management the new structures required to implement the Act. It has drawn up a list of priorities for each health board area. That report has been submitted to me for my decision, which will be made within the next few days. We have already had discussions with the Garda, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education on a range of issues which covered everything from the stay safe programmes to giving further protection to battered families. The Deputy's remarks are not a fair reflection of the urgency with which both I and my officials have addressed this issue. The Deputy and the House can be well pleased with the progress which has been made in the last few weeks.
Is the Minister aware that a special child care advisory committee has not yet been set up in the Eastern Health Board area, the largest health board area in the country? This relates to section 7 of the Child Care Act which has already been implemented. There are 104 children awaiting child guidance services in the Eastern Health Board area and between 15-20 per cent of these cases relate to child abuse. I accept that the Minister is moving as speedily as he can on the issue, but committees sitting around tables in his Department will not change the position at the coalface. I am not happy that sufficient support has been put in place for social workers who are charged with the responsibility of looking after child abuse cases.
I do not share the Deputy's views. A very significant resource will be made available to the Eastern Health Board because of its size and the nature of the problems it faces. It will be the best resourced health board subsequent to the Government decision to allocate it an additional £5 million. As I have said from day one, I do not intend simply to implement the Act. I want to provide the resources on the ground, for example, personnel, structural resources and a legislative framework. All these measures need to be put in place before the Act can be operated. I am happy that the progress made has been achieved as quickly as is practicable. The full allocations will be made and the full training and recruitment processes will be put in place. The drawing up of the regulations and the enactment of whatever further legislative provisions are required are in hands at present.
Question No. 4, please.
May I——
I have given the Deputy quite some lattitude.
May I ask a final question?
Yes, but I am concerned that the Deputy seems to be imparting a lot of information rather than seeking it at this time.
It is important that I get my point across to the Minister. The Minister referred to the provision of future resources and future increases in manpower. The present resources——
The Deputy is embarking on a statement.
Fifty per cent of psychology posts in the Eastern Health Board area are unfilled at present. Can the Minister account for this situation?
I said I was unhappy with the level of child supports available and that is why I went to Cabinet and sought the implementation of the Child Care Act. The timescale for the implementation of the Act was the fastest that could be achieved. I have the resources to do this. That is the commitment of both the Government and me, and we are working on this at present.
