Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 18 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Children in Care.

Mr. Neville

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise the issue of the welfare of disturbed children.

On Monday this week, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly in the High Court warned that he may shortly have to take unprecedented and dramatic action to secure the welfare of disturbed children because the juvenile criminal justice system has been reduced to a farce. In desperation the judge asked, "How much longer will this go on? When will the situation come to an end?" Today the judge ordered the Ministers for Health and Children, Education and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform to find a secure place for a girl who is on the run from a therapeutic unit for the second time. Will the Minister of State outline her response to the court's demands? Will a secure place be provided and, if so, why does it take a High Court order to have this child taken care of? Why would the Minister not respond to the calls from me and other Deputies for action for disturbed children? Are the representatives of the people not listened to? Why does it take a threat of contempt of the High Court for the Government to respond?

The 17 year old girl at the centre of this case has profound needs. She did not have a chance in life. She was sexually abused at seven years of age and was raped at the age of 11. Most children who were sexually abused suffer from a range of mental health problems. They often inflict self-harm either directly or through eating disorders and drug abuse. In the case before the court today, the child tried to take her life on two occasions. She has also abused alcohol and drugs. At the end of August, she was removed from an adult psychiatric hospital, which was totally unsuitable and where she had been held down and sedated, to a purpose-built therapeutic unit. Her escape from the unit last Saturday was the second such escape.

Perhaps the Minister of State will indicate whether she has been found. The court was informed that the unit cannot take her back, even if she is found, because of a shortage of staff. How can the Minister of State justify this? This House deserves a full explanation. It is a disgrace. The staff believe it is not a safe environment. Mr. Justice Kelly did not send her back to the adult psychiatric unit which is totally unsuitable for children, and rightly so. The Inspector of Mental Hospitals has reported repeatedly that such institutions are totally unsuitable for children, yet action on this issue by the Minister for Health and Children has been at best minimal and at worst a disgrace. It is also a disgrace that if he had to consider Mountjoy Prison as an option he could not do so because of the easy access to drugs in that State institution. In my view, a prison should not be an option to be considered for a child in such distress.

Will the Minister of State outline the facts relating to the disappearance last Friday of two teenage boys, carrying the keys of the institution, from Oberstown Boys' Centre, Lusk, County Dublin? How did they obtain the keys of the centre? It would be comical, if it were not so serious, that the staff were locked into the centre and could only watch the boys through the window making their escape.

I understand that a 16 year old girl was reported missing from the care centre on 10 October and a 14 year old boy went missing from another juvenile detention centre on 14 October. Will the Minister of State give a full report to this House this evening on these disappearances?

In court on Monday, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly asked the barrister for the State whether anyone in power takes this matter seriously. I now ask the same question. Does anyone in power take this matter seriously? In relation to the case on Monday, the failure of the system was evident in the case of the out of control boy I mentioned who is described as a danger to himself and others. The District Court, despite directing the boy to detention for two years in a secure centre, had to release him on bail because there was no secure place available. Last April, the boy was ordered to be detained in Oberstown Boys' Centre but there was no place available. In July he was ordered to be sent to Trinity House but, again, there was no place available. He was then moved around several Garda stations until he was ultimately freed on bail. He was back in court on 11 September, was directed to Oberstown Boys' Centre but again there was no place available. I ask the Minister of State for a full reply.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin)

I thank Deputy Neville for giving me an opportunity to place the state of our children in context and to say that most children lead very happy and safe lives. Unfortunately, some do not and it is incumbent on the State to assist and, where necessary, intervene. Approximately 4,000 children are in the care of the State. Of these, 80% are being cared for in foster homes. I accept that a child's family is the best place for that child. However, where that cannot happen, another family is the ideal choice. The remaining children are cared for in various forms of residential facilities.

A small number of children cannot be cared for in the more general residential settings and these are the children we are addressing tonight. These children have very particular needs, which require a wide range of responses. There is no doubt they are among our most vulnerable citi- zens and they are and must be a major concern to us all.

I would like to use this short time to outline our objectives for the care of these children and to explain a number of points in relation to the particular case which was raised today. As things stand at present, difficulties arise in securing specialist placing for individual children. It is the case that it may not be possible to place a child in a unit of first choice. However, when the extra 110 high support and special care places and the extra 30 places for offending children are built, I am confident this difficulty will be addressed.

We are working to completely change the ways in which the State implements both preventative strategies and provides supports responsive to the individual needs of children. This involves changing legislation, changing training, providing major increases in resources and altering radically the culture of administration by ensuring proper co-ordination.

The Children Bill proposes to change the fundamental legal basis upon which the State addresses the needs of children in difficulty. The Bill will move us away from a situation of limited options to one where there is a range of options available. At its core is a complete change to how cases are addressed once they come to the notice of the State. Family welfare conferences will ensure that all agencies involved in the welfare of the child will be involved. The funding has been provided to introduce this service in every health board.

Over the last three years, we have provided an extra £64 million for child care services and have allocated funding for a wide range of building projects amounting to £122 million. Unfortunately, a number of individual projects have encountered delays. For example, a facility in Clare, which would provide a house for six children, has been delayed by a planning appeal. Deputies will be aware that there are difficulties in finding professional staff in most areas at present, but there are particular difficulties in relation to residential care.

I want to stress again that we are doing all we can to overcome these and other difficulties. The National Children's Strategy will address co-ordination issues and set a wider context for a range of preventative and early intervention measures.

The case before Mr. Justice Peter Kelly today is an extremely sad and sensitive one. When this case first came before the High Court in May, my Department gave a clear commitment to the health board responsible for the care of this child that any funding required would be made available to provide a suitable arrangement for her. A suitable house was subsequently converted at a cost of roughly £250,000. In addition, other funding for eight dedicated staff has been provided to care for this child. Counselling, therapy and education services were also provided. Every thing the health board asked for in this case has been provided.

While attending a hospital appointment the child absconded, but as soon as she is found the health board has confirmed that, as an immediate measure, she will be cared for in her specially adapted unit. However, there are serious staffing issues in the unit in question and my Department is doing everything possible, in conjunction with the health board to ensure these are resolved. Evidence was given in court today that psychiatric nurses in the hospital in which she was previously placed have refused to accept the child again and have threatened industrial action. Despite these difficulties, the board and the Department are fully committed to continue to provide for her care even though it will be necessary to find alternative staffing arrangements to allow this to be done.