Written Answers. - Child Care Services.
Alan Shatter
Question:
155
Mr. Shatter
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the reasons his Department has failed to comply with declarations and court orders made in proceedings brought before the High Court relating to children following on from the FN case in 1995; and the action, if any, he is taking to ensure that declarations and orders made are properly complied with.
[12318/00]
As the Deputy is no doubt aware the State parties to the cases brought before the High Court following on from the FN case have invariably included Ireland, the Attorney General and the Minister for Education and Science, formerly the Minister for Education. The Minister for Health and Children, formerly the Minister for Health, has usually been a party to such proceedings. I should add that health boards, principally the former Eastern Health Board, have also been party to such proceedings. While I am not aware of the State parties or of the health boards involved in such proceedings failing to comply with orders of the High Court little progress was made by the Deputy's party when it was in Government in addressing the issue of specialised residential care for children in need of special care or protection.
Since this Government came to office in 1997 it has invested more than £60 million revenue in the development of our child care services including new child and family support services such as specialised fostering and early intervention projects to allow health boards to provide a range of appropriate interventions which will place specialised residential care in an appropriate context. This additional funding has allowed the health boards to increase the number of high support and special care places available from 17 in 1996 to a current total of 63 places which includes a number of individual high support packages.
My Department has approved health board proposals to develop 110 additional high support and special care places nationally. As part of this programme of developments, seven additional places have already been created in the South-Eastern Health Board and an additional eight place unit for girls has been opened and is being brought into operation on a phased basis in the Southern Health Board. These developments are included in the current total of 63 places.
Plans are well advanced by the health boards to develop other additional places nationally as part of this programme as follows:
In the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, the construction of a purpose built special care unit providing 24 places at Ballydowd, Lucan, commenced in January 1999. It is anticipated that this unit will open in the summer of this year. The development of a 24 bed purpose built high support unit which will be built at Portrane is at a tender stage. It is anticipated that this unit will be ready by autumn 2001.
The Midland Health Board, the North-Eastern Health Board, the North-Western Health Board and the Western Health Board are co-operating to provide 12 high support places on a single campus. A site has been acquired and a project manager and a project group have been put in place to develop the proposal.
Places being developed in the other boards are as follows: 20 high support places and a special care facility with five places for adolescent boys in the Mid-Western Health Board; three high support places in the South-Eastern Health Board; and five high support places for boys and an additional two places in a special care facility for girls in the Southern Health Board. These places are due to become available during 2000 and 2001. The senior managers resource group comprising representatives from each of the health boards and my Department was established in October 1998 and it continues to meet regularly to monitor the overall development of these services.
I might add that I met the chair and members of the new interim body on special residential services for children convicted of committing offences and children who have behavioural problems and are in need of special care and protection at its inaugural meeting this morning. This new body will advise the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science on co-ordinating the delivery of services and on the development and provision of educational and other programmes in health board special care facilities and in those facilities run by or under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science for offending children. The special residential services board provided for in part 11 of the Chil dren Bill, 1999, which is currently before the House, will take over the interim body's responsibilities when the Bill becomes law.
I feel confident that these measures, together with the enactment of the Children Bill, 1999 – Part 3 of which will provide for the detention of a non-offending child in need of special care or protection by a health board on foot of a court order, will obviate the need for High Court proceedings in respect of such cases.
