Vol. 456 No. 7
80 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health the outcome of the meeting between his Minister of State and his counterpart in Northern Ireland; whether there are areas for co-operation in the development of child care services North and South; and the matters that were discussed at that meeting. [14648/95]
On 3 October last, I met with Mr. Malcom Moss MP, the Health and Social Services Minister with responsibility for child care services in Northern Ireland. We had a constructive discussion on a wide range of child care matters and identified several specific measures where we can cooperate. In particular, we agreed to formalise existing contacts between health boards here and the authorities in the North in relation to the exchange of information about children at risk whose families move across the Border.
We also agreed that our officials will explore means of exchanging information on former employees who have left or been dismissed from posts involving responsibility for the welfare of children, when it is believed that they may present a risk to children.
Other matters on which we agreed to develop cross-Border co-operation include—
—the development of joint multidisciplinary training programmes for child protection;
—cross-Border research projects on the evaluation and development of child care services;
—co-ordinated approaches to service delivery by health and social services agencies working along the Border; and
—exchange of experience in the inspection of children's homes.
We agreed to meet again in the New Year to review progress.
