Review of Serious Incidents including Deaths of Children in Care: Statements

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald)

In January 2010, the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, published Guidance for the HSE for the Review of Serious Incidents including Deaths of Children in Care.

In accordance with the HIQA guidance, last year, the Health Service Executive, HSE, established a national review panel to undertake these reviews. Dr. Helen Buckley, senior lecturer and research fellow at the school of social work and social policy in Trinity College Dublin, was appointed as chair. There are 20 ordinary members on the panel, 18 of whom are external to the HSE.

While the national review panel has been established under the auspices of the HSE, it remains, and this is important, functionally independent, making findings of fact and producing reports that are objective and independent of the HSE.

On 18 October, the HSE published the 2010 annual report and on the same day the HSE also published six individual panel reviews of deaths and serious incidents involving children. I thank Dr. Buckley and all who have been involved in these reports.

The annual report we are discussing covers March through December of last year, 2010. During the period from March to December 2010, 30 cases were referred to the panel by the HSE. These comprise 22 deaths and eight serious incidents. Of the 22 deaths, six of the people concerned died from natural causes; four died from drug overdose; four died as a result of suicide; four died in road traffic accidents; two died in homicides; and two died in accidents other than road traffic accidents.

The annual report notes that two of the 30 deaths related to children in care at the time of the incident. Cases known to the child protection service, but not involving care, accounted for a majority of notifications.

The annual report comments that the criteria set out by the HIQA are "broad by international standards". In England serious case reviews are undertaken in the form of local inquiries into the death or serious injury of a child where abuse or neglect is known or suspected to be a factor. In Northern Ireland cases are considered for review where abuse, including sexual abuse, or neglect is a factor. The report comments that, in Ireland, all accidental deaths and deaths by natural causes, as well as serious incidents, must be reviewed even where there is no suggestion of parental or professional wrong-doing.

In addition to the annual report, the HSE also published six individual review reports concerning four deaths and two serious incidents involving young people. Three deaths were by natural causes and one was following an accident. The two serious incidents also concerned accidents. None of the subjects of the reports was in care at the time of the incident, however, one of the accident victims, who was over 18 years of age, was still living with foster parents at the time. All were known to the HSE child protection services.

In summary, of the reviews presented, in no case was an action or inaction on the part of the HSE child and family services found to be directly linked to the incident or death of a child. In a number of cases, good practice, in sometimes difficult circumstances, is particularly remarked on.

The death of every child is a tragedy and I offer every sympathy to the families whose children were reported upon by this review panel. The publication of this review and the other review reports are difficult for the families involved, and we must continue to do our utmost to ensure that learning is applied while protecting the privacy of families.

A primary purpose of the review is to establish if any action or inaction by the State's children and family services contributed in any way to these events. The findings of the review process are designed to strengthen services for children and promote learning in the system in order to improve professional practice and protect children even more.

The individual reviews make recommendations with regard to the standardisation of assessment processes, the need for alternative methods for dealing with high reporting rates in some areas so as to ensure proper screen and diversion of referrals to the most appropriate "track" and the need for early, strategic and multidisciplinary intervention where domestic violence is a risk factor for children and families.

The review also makes a number of recommendations with respect to interdisciplinary and inter-agency action in meeting the needs of some children and their families, including on shared assessment between services and the need for a shared support between hospitals, GPs and community based services for young people, including maternity hospitals in the case of young and vulnerable mothers. Deputies will be familiar with that as we have discussed on a number of occasions in this House the need for inter-agency work, sharing of information and working together in the interests of families and children and vulnerable adults.

This is not the first report with such recommendations on improving our State's child protection and care services, and it will not be the last.

I will soon receive the report of the Independent Review Group on Child Deaths compiled by Norah Gibbons and Geoffrey Shannon. This report will, in effect, represent a retrospective examination of the cases of children and young people who died in the preceding decade, from January 2000 to April 2010, and I am sure there will be many lessons to be learned from that report also. These reports are important, in particular as they help to highlight the intense pressures under which Ireland's children and family services must operate.

There will likely be over 25,000 referrals to social work child protection teams across the State in 2011. As of August 2011 there were 6,215 children in the care of the State. This figure has increased steadily over the past number of years — up by 900 in just over three years.

We are lucky in Ireland that we have so many foster parents willing to look after many of our children. We have very high rates of care. The vast majority of children in our care are being cared for by foster parents.

The many challenges facing the child protection services are not helped by the very significant financial difficulties faced by the HSE child and family services this year and in the past number of years, not to mention significant staffing pressures, be it replacement of staff on maternity leave or the filling of vacancies, but it is not the social workers on the front line who bear the blame. We have services staffed with good people who are committed to delivering a different, better life for Irish children.

There are good news stories. For example, nearly 99% of all children in residential care now have an allocated social worker with 96% having a written care plan, but there are simply not enough good news stories, mainly because our care system traditionally has been under-funded, under-resourced and under-attended for more than a decade, to which many of the reports amply testify.

My Department has only been operating for a number of months but in that time my officials and I have made significant inroads into getting to the bottom of the suite of systemic problems and failings that beset our child protection and social work systems.

The information that will be uncovered by my Department is likely to be unsettling. I am seeing again and again hard-working, dedicated front line professionals stymied by a broken system which has not put Children First.

Having worked in this area as a social worker, both in the United Kingdom and in Ireland, I know there is nothing more frustrating for a social worker than to call upon the system to help a child or a family only to discover the system is incapable or unwilling to answer the call.

We will not immediately fix this problem. The deficit I have inherited is too great to instantly repair. I have said many times inside and outside this House that while I am very proud to be the State's first senior Minister for Children my one regret is that the Ministry was not created ten years earlier because ten years ago we had the resources to solve these problems quickly and definitively. The money spent on one vanity project could have changed the lives of many children and families. These resources are no longer available but the problems to be solved remain and have grown. Where previous Administrations could buy solutions, this Government will have to build them. This will require us to create savings and efficiencies, redeploy resources, find new ways of doing things and examine with intense focus everything we do. While this will take time, it must be done and we have started the process.

In July, I launched the new Children First national guidance for the protection and welfare of children. In addition, I have received Government approval to bring forward legislation to put Children First on a statutory basis to ensure, as far as possible, compliance by all organisations working with children, including statutory, private, community and voluntary bodies. This is highly relevant to the reviews under discussion. Work is proceeding on this complex legislation and I hope shortly to be in a position to publish the heads of the Bill. The introduction of legislation has been discussed for years and was a key recommendation of the Ryan report implementation plan. Whereas the previous Government failed to act on this matter, it is being acted upon under my Ministry.

I have also initiated an interdepartmental framework to oversee the consistent nationwide implementation of the Children First guidelines. My Department recently launched the new child protection and welfare practice handbook and held four regional meetings with front-line staff offering a cascading programme of training for Health Service Executive professionals at all levels. The programme is being rolled out with joint training with gardaí.

Many of the recommendations of the individual reviews issued last month, in particular those with respect to co-ordination and sharing of information, will be addressed through the consistent implementation of the Children First guidelines. I discussed previously the recruitment of additional social workers as part of the Ryan report implementation plan. While the number of staff is important, unless the system is fit for purpose and service delivery models work properly, we will continue to fail our nation's children.

I am committed to building a new architecture for child welfare and protection and integrated family support services. Certain key principles must underpin this new architecture and were highlighted in the recommendations of the national review panel. As the reviews repeatedly illustrate, consistency of practice is required in child protection and welfare services, as is better local management and prioritisation of casework. We also need a greater focus on prevention and early intervention to support families in crisis and prevent manageable welfare cases from becoming more serious protection cases. Much better financial discipline is required in the management of our services as this has not been provided by the HSE in recent years. We also need reliable and real time data on our social work and care services to inform proper evidence based planning and resource allocation. I have expressed previously in the House how shocked I was at the lack of national data pertaining to many of the issues raised by Deputies with regard to child care protection services, adoption and fostering. Much greater inter-agency collaboration is required, in particular between care services and youth justice.

Central to this new architecture will be the delivery of the new child and family support agency, as committed to in the programme for Government. In September, I established a transition task force to advise on and oversee the establishment of the new agency. In the interim, it is my intention, working with my colleague, the Minister for Health, to establish a shadow child and family programme in the HSE in 2012. This will provide for a dedicated management structure and budget for children and family services. Management of these services will be led by Mr. Gordon Jeyes, the national director, who has a close working relationship with me and my Department.

As indicated, the national review panel's annual report highlighted that the criteria for the cases to be reviewed are broad by international standards. This is an important point to note.

According to the report, "the NRP is concerned that the HIQA guidance places virtually impossible obligations on it. The combination of timelines, detail required and unanticipated volume of notifications presents difficulties for the NRP that were never intended." The report suggests ways in which the process of reviewing serious incidents and child deaths could be improved. Given that this is a new process, it is not surprising that the review panel remarked on the nature of the process and challenges in putting into operation the HIQA guidance. I am concerned about the capacity issues identified by the panel. I recently met with HIQA and asked that it review the content of the report and its recommendations. HIQA has agreed to review the guidance and is engaging actively with the national review panel and HSE children and family services in this regard. These are matters which will be considered by HIQA in the first instance and by my officials in the context of related policy and legislative developments which are in train.

The independent chairperson, Dr. Helen Buckley, notes in her introduction to the annual report that "as knowledge about child harm and the means of addressing it have expanded, so also have expectations about the capacity of the services to keep children safe". We must never assume that the existence of a child protection service is a panacea which absolves society of its responsibility to be vigilant. Reading the report and reviews, it is clear that responsibility for child protection extends to everyone. As we have repeatedly highlighted, while professionals working on the front line have an additional obligation in respect of what action and intervention they take in response to issues that are brought to their attention, everyone in society has a role to play in child protection. As a society, we must continue to recognise and be on the lookout for the many untoward influences and dangers waiting to insinuate themselves into children's lives. The Government must also continue to strive to enhance all services that have child protection and welfare as their ultimate aim. The work of the national review panel and HSE, the change management programme under way and the HIQA review of the panel and the report I will receive shortly into deaths of children in care over a ten year period will help to achieve this objective.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

I thank the Minister and Whip's office for facilitating my request to hold a debate following the publication of the national review panel's report three weeks ago. I commend Professor Helen Buckley on the work she and the national review panel did in addressing the cases highlighted in the report. I also compliment the work done since the establishment of her office on introducing procedures to address this important issue. The national review panel was established following concerns raised in respect of the Health Service Executive's child protection service and the lack of transparency regarding child deaths. In parallel with the establishment of the panel, an independent review by Mr. Geoffrey Shannon and Ms Nora Gibbons proceeded into deaths of children in the preceding ten years. This review and the ongoing work of the national review panel will be critical in assessing what has gone wrong with the child protection services and, unfortunately, investigating serious incidents and deaths to ensure an audit is done to determine how each of the children affected was treated by the child protection services and to know precisely what lessons can be learned from each incident, with a view to improving the services provided to all children.

The report by the national review panel highlighted a number of deficiencies in the child protection system, including several breaches of the Children First guidelines, inadequate supervision of practices in the Health Service Executive and family services in a number of cases and the absence of a standardised method of assessing the needs of children and young people who come to the attention of social services. The report also exposed the need for specialist training for social workers to improve investigative skills and assist in engaging with difficult to reach families. It also highlighted the need to develop additional protocols for children who abscond from care and the need to provide after care support as children make the transition to adulthood. Worryingly, the report states the national review panel's workload is virtually impossible to carry out in full owing to the number and breadth of matters it must investigate. These cases are not files and piles of paper but represent a child death or serious incident. It has been reported that the panel was asked to review 51 cases, including 35 deaths, since its establishment in March 2010. It is imperative that the panel is given the resources to deal with those cases which come before it. I welcome the fact that the Minister has asked HIQA to look into this and into the scope of those cases being examined by the national review panel. I urge her to ensure that HIQA promptly conducts its assessment of the national review panel's terms of reference, and should additional resources and appropriate changes to the terms of reference be required, I urge her to act on them immediately. Given the poor record of the State in monitoring child deaths and serious incidents over the years, we should ensure that, as of today, we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. The incidents where the system fails children should be examined immediately and remedies should be put in place where appropriate.

There is no doubting the importance of creating a full Cabinet position for the issue of children and youth services. I welcome the fact that this has occurred. It has followed progressive steps made in recent years, starting with the decision to establish the position of Minister of State with responsibility for children, followed by the decision to elevate the position to a super junior Ministry. The Minister of State with responsibility for children could attend Cabinet meetings, albeit not be a full voting member.

I support the Minister's efforts to put Children First on a statutory basis and I know efforts to bring forward that legislation are ongoing. However, we have recently gone backwards in some respects in the management of this brief. It was unfortunate that commitments given by political parties before the election on the timing of a children's rights referendum were reneged upon once those parties entered the Government. There is now a commitment to hold the referendum next year. Unlike the Labour Party and Fine Gael, I will not put too much pressure on demands for a specific date. However, I urge the Minister to continue working with that. It was very unfortunate that one of the Government's first actions was to renege on a commitment to bring that forward to the presidential election date.

One of the lessons from the presidential election and the two referenda held on the same day is the need to ensure that full consultation with the public takes place. Engagement with the public is crucial in terms of ensuring the success of any referendum proposal. When we come to set a date for the children's rights referendum, which will hopefully take place next year, it is important that it should be on its own and not held in conjunction with a referendum on abolishing the Seanad, as has been suggested. It will be a historic move by the State to improve the rights of the child and child protection issues. These issues have been highlighted by the child review panel, while the independent review panel set up by Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbons will undoubtedly show that we have failed in the past as well. It is important that this referendum is held on its own and given priority by all involved when we try to pass it next year.

The other key issue we have neglected in recent months is the situation on social workers in the system. Professor Helen Buckley's report shows that social workers are the core of the child protection system. I note the Minister's commitment to ensure that the 60 social workers to be employed in 2011, as part of the Ryan report recommendations, will be in their posts by the end of the year. However, when assessing the current number of social workers in the system, I feel we have gone backwards since the Government entered office. As of 31 September, there were 2,429 whole-time equivalent social workers being employed by the State. On 1 January, that number was 2,432, which is slightly more. This shows that we have gone backwards since the start of the year. We now have a recruitment freeze and cannot replace social workers who go on maternity leave, nor can we replace temporary posts. I have also sought information from the Department and the HSE about the replacement of those who have been retiring. Temporary posts are there to replace people who are sick, on career breaks or whatever. As these contracts expire, they are not being renewed, and this means that one fewer social worker is being employed. This is putting additional strain on social worker offices across the country. I have been hearing at first hand examples of how offices are coming under massive pressure as a result.

I urge the Minister to remove the recruitment pause on maternity leave, temporary leave and temporary posts for social workers. By not doing that, we are regressing instead of progressing. In many respects, it makes a fallacy of highlighting the fact that we are due to employ 60 additional recruitment workers. If we look at how many are working daily in the system, we may be seeing fewer workers. I know it is not easy due to the financial situation, but it is crucially important that we continue to resource properly our system for social workers. This will be especially important in light of the legislation being brought forward on mandatory reporting, which will lead to additional pressures in the system as well.

I support the Minister's efforts to bring in a uniform system for dealing with reports across the country. However, it is not sufficient. It also needs to be resourced. I have expressed concerns to her before about moving immediately to mandatory reporting without first having assessed what resource implications that might mean. It is certainly an issue.

Along with Deputy Ó Caoláin, I attended the pre-budget submission made by Focus Ireland yesterday. The meeting also focused on the issue of mandatory aftercare for children leaving the care system. I urge the Minister to remember that for children leaving the system who have depended on the State for services and protection, our duty of care does not end once they reach the age of 18. It was disappointing — this view has been eloquently expressed in the past by Deputy Ó Caoláin — that the Government did not provide for mandatory aftercare in the Child Care (Amendment) Act, which was one of the first Bills brought through the House by the Minister. I urge the Minister to implement this. We all need to work together to ensure that, as a State, we improve our record in that regard.

Once again I thank the Minister and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving time to this important issue and assure the Minister of my co-operation in dealing with the challenges we know are coming down the track, particularly that of the referendum, on which we will work together next year.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I have lost count of the number of times I have stood up in this and previous Dálaí to address the issue of child protection. It is not so long since many Members of this House spoke on the recommendations of the Ryan report. There have been, as we know, numerous statements on child protection and various HSE reports. Yet the reality for most children in the care of the State or in need of child protection services is that little has changed.

As I stand here this morning, there is an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. While we were speaking on the Cloyne report, in which the State as well as the church had questions to answer, it emerged that there was a case in Donegal in which a school had continued to employ a man convicted of sexually assaulting a young male despite the Garda having expressing concern on the matter. We welcomed the appointment of a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs and the Government’s expressed commitment to reforming child protection services. These are important developments of which I have been most supportive, but the Minister knows that on their own they are not enough. They provide a framework for action. The Minister will understand that as Opposition voices, we have to press for action. I believe it is the Minister’s wish also that we will see action following her appointment and the establishment of her Department.

The Government has been in situ since March. The national vetting bureau Bill has not yet been published. We are still waiting for the establishment of the long-promised child welfare and protection agency. The Minister has indicated in recent responses to oral questions what is happening at the moment, but we have yet to see the fruits of her efforts. If it is the case that the delay is being caused by the Government’s wrestling with the internal mechanisms and senior figures of the HSE, it is essential that the Minister comes clean and tells us this. The child welfare and protection agency must be established without further delay and, once it is established, it is imperative that it is resourced according to need.

There are still 60 social worker posts to be filled. Even at that level, social workers will still be under-resourced. This kind of wing-and-a-prayer approach to child protection will only lead to more reports of Baby G-type cases. That is absolutely unacceptable. While we all understand that there are financial constraints on the Government, this cannot be an excuse in the area of child protection. There are choices to be made and it is up to the Government to make those choices. We have placed great faith in the Minister's ability to argue her corner in seeking a share of the Exchequer cake for the coming year.

For example, in October, it was revealed by the heads of NAMA to the Committee of Public Accounts that up to 120 developers are being paid directly by NAMA, with two of them getting €200,000 per annum. It is staggering. NAMA's own chief executive is receiving over €400,000 in salary payments, and who knows what the rest of the NAMA management are earning. If there is money in the State to make such payments, there is money to pay the salaries of social workers and to resource them appropriately. It is a question of prioritising and recognising what is fundamentally important, and child protection must be at the top of the list, especially in view of the sad and sorry record of child protection mechanisms and supports in the State and on behalf of the State historically and right up to the present time. If the Government can afford to pay its special advisers €130,000 a year, then it can afford to pay the necessary social workers. In this context, it is reprehensible to blame financial constraints for inaction in resourcing child protection structures. There are still outstanding recommendations from various reports for new procedures which we are waiting to see implemented. These procedures are of no use unless they are implemented.

Last month, while we were hearing of the monstrous NAMA salaries, we also heard of 35 deaths and 16 serious incidents since March last year involving children in the care of the HSE or who were known to that organisation. I note that the Minister's contribution referred specifically to the period March to December 2010, but these are the figures that were revealed at that time from March of last year to October of this year. These are children who died from drugs, suicide or road accidents. We do not know how many of these children should not have died because the State was meant to be in the place of their parents or because it should have intervened earlier or helped the families from which those children came. I acknowledge that the figures tell us only a very small part of the story, but they are absolutely shocking.

None of us wishes to stand here in six months' time, least of all the Minister herself, to speak on the deaths of more children in State care. What is it going to take for the Government — I am not pressing the Minister individually — to actually implement the changes that are needed to make State care a safe place for children? That is the point we must reach. What will it take for the Government to make the HSE more accountable? Social workers are under-resourced and clearly overburdened. I have spoken directly with those at the coalface and I must say they are doing heroic work despite all the difficulties they must contend with. It is unacceptable for the HSE to respond to the death of a child by saying "Well, that was a key learning point". We have had too many key learning points. It is up to this Government to change this. Furthermore, I am calling on the Government to ensure that child services are protected in this forthcoming budget. That will be a critical indicator of what lies ahead.

Children should not, and cannot, shoulder the burden of the financial mismanagement of this State.

We know who was responsible for that. Socially and economically penalising children is far from cherishing the children of the nation equally, as the Proclamation envisaged. Certainly, it does not represent the State demonstrating a commitment to ensure the best interests of the child.

I echo the calls concerning child protection made by Barnardos in its pre-budget submission launched this week and I commend the efforts of those involved. As a previous speaker stated, it is high time the Government held the referendum to enshrine children's rights in the Constitution. Children's rights are too limited in the Constitution. I call on the Government and in particular the Minister for Justice and Equality to provide an explanation. The public deserves an explanation outlining why there is such an inordinate delay in publishing a referendum Bill. It is not good enough to hang it all on the Attorney General's office and claim that this, that and the other must be examined and measured in terms of its impact. After all this time and as we head toward the second anniversary of the publication of the third report of the all-party committee we are due an explanation of the position rather than vague responses to the effect that the matter is continuing under consideration. I hope the Minister will respond and arrange to have a detailed explanation provided to Members.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party supported wholeheartedly the draft wording for a constitutional amendment as set out in the final report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children, of which I and the Minister were members. It is not unreasonable of me to ask what has changed since those involved took up the responsibility of ministerial office and Government. We and the public have a right to know and I hope this information will be forthcoming soon.

In the forthcoming budget it is imperative that the Family Support Agency is resourced to invest in preventative and early intervention measures. Early intervention will aid child protection most. Also, there should be an immediate roll out of a State-wide out-of-hours care service. I still hear of cases of children being presented to Garda stations in the dead of night. Homeless children are taken into care under section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991, rather than being given the full range of support services they are entitled to under section 4 of the same Act. This is not the outworking of the commitment to child protection that the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, gave while he was running for election in February. There are still children leaving care and not receiving adequate after care services. As a matter of urgency the Government must resource and implement the national after care policy. I take this opportunity to endorse fully the Focus Ireland campaign for a statutory right to after care, something for which I have argued consistently in recent years. This involves a statutory right to after care for young people leaving care and young people experiencing homelessness. As Focus Ireland has asserted, everyone has a right to a place they can call home. This applies not least to young people who have been in State care upon attaining their 18th year when they face all the challenges that life brings at that time and in the transition from childhood to adulthood.

It is also essential that the Government moves to establish the EU missing children's hotline in this State. It is already operational in 16 member states and I see no good reason why it has not been set up here yet. I commend the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, on campaigning on this issue for years and I am disappointed that the Government has not heeded its calls to date. This, alongside the placing of the Children First protection guidelines on a statutory footing, mandatory reporting and a fully resourced social work system, is something that the children of this island cannot do without.

We must be frank and honest about this: the State has an abysmal record when it comes to child protection and this must change. Children have a right to be protected and I welcome the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald's, initiative in this regard. But this is not solely the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, as I have stated. A joined-up, holistic approach is required, involving the Ministers for Finance; Justice and Equality; Education and Skills; Environment, Community and Local Government; Health; and Social Protection, all of whom have a role to play. This should be realised by each of the Ministers involved and by others I may have overlooked. I urge the Minister to proceed in this regard. She has our wholehearted support in working towards a response from Government and that is from whence any response must come. I urge all those involved to act fully and generously in the best interests of the children of this island whatever transpires in the time leading up to the next general election. If we can put in place a major improvement in the situation relating to child protection and children in need and in care in this State, even if there is nothing else, it will be a powerful legacy.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I welcome the fact that we are having this debate. I commend the national review panel on completing this report and on examining this most serious of issues. While I have some points to make which challenge or criticise the Government's action in respect of child protection, I have no doubt about the Minister's commitment to it. In her speech, the Minister was frank in stating she is trying to do her best but that she is labouring under the financial circumstances and constraints with which the State is faced. This is the real issue. With the best will in the world, the Minister can and will try to do her best to improve standards of child protection. However, unless there is backing, support and resources for doing so and unless these are connected to addressing the many factors, including societal and economic factors which contribute to the problems facing children, it is difficult to see how one could make headway.

Deputy Ó Caoláin's remarks were important. The starting point for discussing this issue is to recognise the absolutely abysmal failure of the State to protect children from abuse, neglect and poverty over a long period. It is an incredible indictment not so much of this Government, but of previous successive Governments that despite report, outcry and scandal relating to the abuse and neglect of children and the failure of the State to discharge its responsibility to children, we do not yet have the legislative protection necessary for our children nor do we have the resources and services necessary to protect children to the degree to which they should be protected. If that is the general historical situation the report, dealing with a short period between March and December 2010, is shocking.

I do not know all of the circumstances but I find it shocking that one child who is known to the HSE and public services dies every month from a drug overdose, suicide or homicide. I do not know the circumstances of the other deaths but those facts are bad enough. It is a continuation of the failure of the State to look after our children.

It goes beyond the children who were known to the HSE or services. In the debate on the Private Members' motion tabled by Deputy O'Sullivan last week there was a general acknowledgement that report after report confirmed mental health problems, suicide, drug and alcohol problems have risen dramatically over the past few years. While they are all complex issues which have multifactorial influences, clearly there is a strong connection, as all reports and studies suggest, between those issues and the effects of the recession, austerity, unemployment, poverty and social dislocation in our society. Those problems disproportionately impact on children.

This week Barnardos indicated 40,000 more children are now living in consistent poverty, bringing the total figure to 90,000. That is appalling. The most vulnerable in our society are suffering from the impact of the economic crisis and austerity, for which they have no responsibility, visited upon them by the Government, IMF and EU. The failure of the State could not be more serious. What the Minister can do about that is limited.

Unless we address the unemployment crisis we will not solve the problems of, poverty, which in most cases is related to unemployment, and housing. Housing is a factor in almost all the cases of distressed situations I come across involving children and families. Current policies will make the situation worse. Local authorities are abandoning their responsibility to provide housing for people and outsourcing it to other bodies. The anecdotal evidence in my constituency of what that means is becoming apparent.

I received a telephone call this morning from a vulnerable woman with three young children. She is living in a property owned by the council but run by a voluntary agency. Nobody knows who is responsible for the property. It flooded and all the fuses began to spark, creating a major fire hazard. She telephoned the council which told her it has nothing to do with it and that she should contact the agency, which placed her in emergency accommodation. A day later when the sockets began to fume and smoke she called the fire brigade which indicated the situation was serious and that she should have been removed from the property immediately. Nobody knows who is responsible. She has a history of vulnerability; I will not go into her personal details.

As I am sure the Minister is aware, there are many other examples where it is difficult to determine who is responsible for what, everybody says they do not have the resources to deal with problems and the buck is passed. I do not see how we can resolve any of these problems without resources. We are losing social workers because of the embargo. Family counsellors, therapists and multidisciplinary teams are needed to deal with difficult and complex situations and the underlying problems of poverty and unemployment.

Deputy Finian McGrath

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak to this very important debate on child protection and the urgent need to put child safety and the protection of children at the top of the political agenda. This issue is far bigger than party politics and I urge all Deputies to unite and support all the recommendations of the Ryan report, the annual report of the national review panel on serious incidents, including the deaths of children in care, and all the voluntary and community organisations which support the rights of children. That should be the theme of the debate today and so far it seems to be going in that direction.

Child safety and quality child protection are the most important issues in this debate. The next most important element is having quality, interested, caring and committed staff. We can discuss legislation and reports but if the right people are not doing the right job the problem will not be solved, something which has been an issue in the past and with which I will deal later.

It is not just about getting university points and recruiting highly academic people into social work positions. We need the right people with high professional standards at the front line of child care and protection services. I say that as a person who worked for 26 or 27 years in the north inner city on the front line of child care. I saw teachers, social workers, juvenile liaison officers and female gardaí at work. The right people at the right time can save a lot of children and lives. However we do not need people who want to have a trendy career. They should get out of the sector.

When it comes down to saving and protecting a child I would prefer to have one good foster family than an institutional care situation. The children in stable families in foster care who attended my school were the best survivors. Every day was a very sad day for those in institutional care. A boy of seven years of age left school every day with tears in his eyes, which was heart-rending. It is important that we say that in the debate today.

We have to deal with resources and referendums but the first issue is front-line staff. I understand approximately 6,250 young people are currently in care, an increase of 900 over the past couple of years. It is a frightening statistic. That is the bad news. The good news is that many children in care live with outstanding foster families and receive stability, love, warmth, energy and affection which is saving them from ending up in Mountjoy Prison in the future. Such a system saves the taxpayer money. We have to put our hearts and minds into the psychology of the child in care.

I ask all Deputies to imagine how they would feel if they ended up in a care situation at five, six or seven years of age. I taught and worked with some of these children. When one sees the sadness in their eyes and their desire for warmth, affection and stability, it is heartbreaking. On the other hand, it is hugely encouraging to observe the turnaround when they receive the care they require. Early intervention is key if we are to make a change in these children's lives. Strong family support in foster homes and strong adoptive families provide the stability that is needed to save these children. An issue that has not yet been raised in the debate today is that of children with disabilities in care. These young people are doubly vulnerable in terms of their care needs and in regard to the risk of exploitation. Parents who have adopted or fostered a child with a disability are patriots — exponents of child protection patriotism — who deserve our thanks and commendation.

At this stage, I am becoming frustrated and annoyed with all of the various reports that have been commissioned. I encourage the Minister to get on with the job. She is well versed in the issues to be addressed and there is cross-party support for many aspects of her vision. We do not need any more reports; it is now time for action to safeguard the welfare of the 6,000 children in State care. We must get the right people in place and ensure best practice is being implemented.

The Minister said earlier that almost 99% of children in residential care have now been allocated a social worker, with 96% having a written care plan. That is welcome progress. However, it is not merely a numbers game; it is about the quality of staff working on the front line. The same applies in respect of other caring professions, including nursing and teaching. It should not be all about educational qualifications and points obtained. We must ensure that all staff working with children at risk not only have the qualifications but also the personal qualities that make them suitable to do the job.

In light of revelations in recent years, it is trendy to have a go at the church. The church has certainly failed on the issue of child protection, but so too has the State. It is not often acknowledged in this House that people working on the front line of child protection have also failed. I do not accept what is sometimes claimed in the newspapers, namely, that people did not know what was going on. It must be acknowledged that front line care staff have made mistakes. There was a failure on the part of the church, the State and the staff working on the front line of child protection.

This is an important debate. I wish the Minister well and look forward to her delivering on her commitments in the next 12 months.

Deputy Paul J. Connaughton

I propose to share time with Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

That is agreed.

Deputy Paul J. Connaughton

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. There are few issues more important than child protection. In that regard, I strongly welcome the creation of the new Department of Children and Youth Affairs, which is reflective of the priority afforded to child welfare issues by the Government. Unfortunately, we are all aware that over many years this issue was not given the importance it should have been and certainly was not enforced as it should have been. We are seeing the effects of that now.

I speak as somebody who has worked for the past four years with children and young people in a youth organisation in Galway city. One of the most pressing issues I encountered in working with these young people relates to Garda vetting. We have many upstanding people with fine qualities working with young people, but the Garda vetting process leads to great frustration among those who wish to help in any way they can. We must ensure the process works more effectively in order to avoid situations where people are waiting months to secure Garda clearance. Unfortunately, we have seen situations where, by the time people are cleared to work with young people, they may already have left the organisation having been unable to do the job they wished to do. To clarify, I am not suggesting that we take any shortcuts when it comes to Garda vetting procedures. However, considering the pressure on many organisations, most of which depend to a great extent on volunteers to continue their work, it is imperative that we resolve this issue.

The Children First national guidelines for the protection and welfare of children are excellent. I have received training on those guidelines in the course of my work. The problem is that they are not being universally implemented across all organisations in the State. I do not mean to suggest that certain groups are not doing the proper training; they absolutely are. However, there must be a more uniform approach. This should involve a requirement on all staff to participate in refresher training on a two to three-year basis. One never knows when one will need to use the training. Working with young people involves awareness of abuse, whether physical or emotional, and one can only acquire the skills to deal with that if one is sufficiently trained. A child who has not eaten for several days may seem happy and healthy, but that amounts to a form of abuse. Only staff who are both experienced and well trained will pick up on that.

Children First must be rolled out across all agencies and staff, and it must be done on a consistent basis over a period of two to three years in order to ensure people working with youth organisations can do their job as well as possible. There are many organisations doing fantastic work, all of which have one common goal, namely, to take care of young people and help them to develop. However, the multi-agency approach is not working as it was intended to do. Unfortunately, due to funding cutbacks, some organisations are competing for certain strands of funding rather than working together. It is in those circumstances that children and young people fall through the cracks. I acknowledge that there are confidentiality issues, but if we are serious about providing young people with the care they need and deserve, there must be an effective multi-agency approach. This should focus on co-operation between agencies on a case-by-case basis, with staff working together to devise the most appropriate plan of care for individual children.

I welcome the priority afforded to child protection issues through the creation of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and I commend the Minister on the great work she is doing. While funding cuts will make her make her job more difficult, she is the right person for the role. I encourage her to continue to work with agencies and groups in communities throughout the State. They are the people with the expertise and experience and who best understand what needs to be done.

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the annual report of the National Review Panel for Serious Incidents and Child Deaths. The panel was established in June last year to review deaths and serious incidents experienced by children in State care or known to the Health Service Executive's children and family services.

To put this report and the role of the national review panel in context, it is worth examining how and why the body was established. The panel was formed as a direct result of the publication of the Ryan report in 2009, which provided a painful account of the terrible wrongs inflicted upon children who were placed in State care in the past. The then Government accepted the report in full and, under the auspices of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, an implementation plan was published in July 2009. This plan contained several recommendations, one of which was that the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, should develop guidance to the HSE on the review of serious incidents, including deaths of children in care.

In January 2010 HIQA published a guidance document which required that the HSE establish a panel of appropriately skilled professionals, both internal and external, to review cases under specified criteria. One critical aspect of HIQA's guidance was that an independent chairman and deputy chairman be appointed. In addition, professionals from a range of disciplines were to be appointed for their professional expertise. As a consequence, the national review panel was established in June 2010, with Dr. Helen Buckley, senior lecturer and research fellow at the school of social work and social policy in Trinity College, Dublin, appointed as chairman. Other panel members were inducted and protocols established. Thus the core function of the national review panel of conducting reviews effectively commenced in August 2010, and here in our possession is its first annual report. Before reviewing the annual report it is important that one key element be emphasised, which is that the national review panel remains independent from the HSE. This should not be underestimated, as herein lies one of its main strengths. Even though the NRP was formed under the auspices of the HSE, it has independent legal advisers and liaises directly with the HIQA on its work. Thus we are now in a position to review the first annual report. Those reading the report should be aware of the challenges faced by any panel establishing a new programme of work. The initial phases can be time consuming, due to the establishment of hierarchies, reporting structures, protocols, etc. Anyone familiar with establishing a committee or panel, etc., could relate to this.

The publication of the Ryan report and the report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, commonly known as the Murphy report, in 2009 created considerable public and political concern about the treatment of vulnerable children and the need for transparency and accountability. This highlighted the inadequacy of the system as prior to the national review panel there was no standardised or systematic way of reviewing serious incidents, including the deaths of children in care.

Whereas much of the public and political attention over the past two years has focused upon the deaths of children in care, the criteria set out by the HIQA are much broader. These expanded criteria have led to a vastly increased workload and schedule for the panel. These broader terms have the potential to lead in certain instances to duplication and an array of similar conclusions and recommendations. The HIQA criteria are broad by comparison with international criteria and perhaps need to be re-examined in order to achieve more effective results and learning outcomes from the panel.

Inevitably, the broad criteria have resulted in a large number of cases requiring review. Original estimates in the HIQA guidance suggested that there were likely to be two deaths and up to five serious incidents for national review per annum. In reality, during the nine months in which this guidance applied in 2010, some 22 deaths and eight serious incidents were notified to the national review panel. This discrepancy naturally led to greatly increased workloads and assessments for the panel. In addition, from an early stage it became clear that the timelines imposed in the HIQA guidance were unworkable, as evidenced by the requirement that reviews be commenced within one month of a death or serious incident and completed within four months. When one considers the need for medical evidence such as post-mortem results and coroners' reports, it is clear that these timeframes are unworkable. These aspects constitute a significant challenge for the NRP if it is to comply with the HIQA timelines.

Another area where the panel has experienced difficulties is in the format required for reports initiated by the HIQA. The HIQA requires information of such detail that it would be extremely difficult to retain individuals' anonymity, for the purpose of publication. Herein lies the anomaly — the excessive detail required for publication versus trying to conceal the identities of individuals and families.

Due to the excessively high numbers of notifications the national review panel was faced with capacity issues from inception. As a result, with agreement from the HIQA a priority system was established. The benefit of this system was that appropriate consideration could be apportioned to the higher priority cases and those with most learning outcomes. I welcome this common sense approach and it is heartening to see agreement being reached so easily. Furthermore, the report contains an analysis section which examines the first year under numerous headings including, causes of deaths, gender, age, geography etc. These can be useful, particularly when viewed with future reports, as careful analysis should highlight particularly vulnerable categories.

It is evident that the panel was inhibited in its results owing to unrealistic expectations regarding child deaths and was also confined with the excessively broad reporting criteria. Resources and time were used establishing both the panel and an office. As a result the report, although an annual report, in effect does not have a full year's activities on which to comment.

A particular area of concern already identified relates to the anonymity of the children and young people concerned. The NRP is fearful that this anonymity cannot be guaranteed in cases where they have already been aired in the national media. This area needs particular consideration if a careful balance is to be achieved between its obligations for public accountability and the rights and wishes of the families concerned.

The NRP is concerned that the HIQA guidance places virtually impossible guidelines upon it. The combination of timelines, detail required and the unanticipated volume of notifications presents difficulties for the NRP that were never intended. Therefore the NRP considers that the current guidance requires considerable and urgent redrafting in order to be more reflective of the time required to produce reports and the complexities surrounding their completion and publication. I echo these concerns which are justified and I would welcome a review of certain procedures.

At the end of 2010 the NRP had 12 cases under review with a further six cases awaiting review. With such a large and unanticipated volume of cases the question must be raised at this early juncture whether it is necessary or even beneficial for every case to be reviewed. The report asks whether it would be possible for the chair of the NRP to select representative cases from which maximum learning can be extracted. I so not see why this request should not be considered.

The welfare and safety of children, in particular vulnerable children, is a matter of considerable public concern and with ample justification. It is important therefore that the business of child protection work is made transparent so that its complexities can be understood and confidence in the system can be maintained. In addition, it should remain to the forefront that the aim of the review process is to promote learning from cases where children have died or experienced events which are likely to have serious consequences for them. It is equally important to recognise and promote examples of good practice, something that can often be overlooked in an overzealous desire to find bad practice.

I welcome this initial report from the national review panel but as previously mentioned it should be viewed in context. The national review panel is now firmly established and operating to standardised protocols. As a result it will be next year before a complete and proper 12-month analysis can be conducted. Nonetheless, the first report of the panel is a welcome addition. It conveys great objectivity while seeking further improvement to the quality of its delivery and service. In these times for our nation, that is something to be cherished.

Deputy Barry Cowen

I wish to share time with Deputy Smith.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Barry Cowen

I thank the Minister for acquiescing to Deputy McConalogue's call for a debate on the matter. When Professor Buckley introduced the panel's report on the deaths of children in care, it was striking that she said she felt the panel was not adequately resourced to deal with all cases, which is of concern. The Government has now been in office since February. We were all heartened by the Government's commitment to children by awarding a full ministry to the area. This would have indicated a total commitment to children.

However, I am concerned at the HSE's inaction in appointing social workers. Vulnerable children must be afforded every possible protection. Based on the Ryan report and this review, the most imperative proposal was the one which highlighted the need for more social workers so that social workers could be applied to each individual child in care.

Replies to recent parliamentary questions noted that 2,432 social workers were working within the HSE. On 30 September we had 2,429, a reduction of three. The Ryan report recommended 270 new staff. To be fair to the previous Government, it appointed 200. The Government was supposed to appoint 60 this year and ten next year. It is very disappointing that those appointments have not taken place. When we think of children in care and the State's role in that regard we think, unfortunately, of decades past when, it could be argued, the State abdicated its responsibilities, resulting in great pain and strain for everyone concerned. We now have available to us the expertise which points to the ways, means and methods by which we as parliamentarians and legislators can provide a service and facilities that seek to protect the most vulnerable in society. The most vulnerable in society are no doubt children in care, whom, if nothing else, the Government, when it engages with a view to prioritising funding across a wide range of Departments, needs to seek to protect. The Government established a senior Ministry for children last March. Is it imperative that the future protection of vulnerable children is prioritised. There is no excuse whatsoever that in a year when €6 billion was taken out of the national spending power of this State, 200 social workers were not, as recommended in the Ryan report, put in place and that there was in this area an embargo on recruitment or replacement of staff on maternity or sick leave. Despite all we know and all the expertise in this regard, which has been put into the public domain, there have been only four appointments in this area. The Minister needs to address this issue with her Cabinet colleagues in the context of the upcoming budget. It would be commendable if the Minister were to do so.

On the proposed children's rights referendum, the Government on assuming office stated that this referendum would be held in conjunction with the presidential election. However, that did not happen. The Taoiseach has given a commitment that it will be held next year in conjunction with a referendum on the Seanad. If the Government learned nothing else from its recent loss at the polls, it should have learned that a referendum such as this needs to be afforded the expertise and relevance it deserves and should be held on its own and not with any other referendum, irrespective of what that referendum that is, least of all a referendum on the Seanad.

On the new child and family services agency, I understand a task force has been put in place to consider how this might be established. It is hoped that the Minister can honour her commitment in this regard and bring forward proposals in that area. Apart from speaking about the recommendations contained in the report of Professor Buckley, I wanted to highlight in this debate the stance of Fianna Fáil Party in relation to the recruitment of social workers. As I said, vulnerable children are the weakest in our society. It is imperative the Government follows on from the appointments made by the previous Government and brings forth the funding required to appoint additional social workers so as to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are protected. I do not suggest that this in its entirety is the answer to all that is wrong in this area. There are much broader issues involved. However, as a hard and fast means it is the best we can do in the immediate future. It is hoped the Minister will impress upon her colleagues at the Cabinet table the need to appoint personnel in this area.

Deputy Brendan Smith

I welcome the opportunity to make a short contribution on this important report. I was glad the request by the Fianna Fáil Party spokesperson, Deputy McConalogue, to have this important issue brought before the House was acceded to by the Minister and Government.

On Deputy Cowen's remarks in regard to the forthcoming referendum on children's rights, the Minister will recall that I, when Minister with responsibility for children, put to Cabinet the proposal to establish the all-party Oireachtas committee. The Minister, in her capacity at that time as a Member of Seanad Éireann, was an active and constructive member of that committee which did exemplary work under the chairmanship of former Deputy Mary O'Rourke. I commend Members from all sides who participated in that committee. The late Deputy Brian Lenihan as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and I, as Minister with responsibility for children, were members of that committee which set about its work in a thorough, professional and constructive manner. I believe that if the Minister were in a position to make a personal comment it would be to agree with Deputies McConalogue, Cowen and I that the children's rights referendum should be held on its own. It is an important issue. I left a committee meeting early to come to the House to endorse the comments of Deputies McConalogue and Cowen in appealing to the Government to ensure the children's rights referendum is a stand-alone referendum. There are complex issues involved. Those complex issues were teased out in great detail by the all-party committee.

The role of the all-party Oireachtas committee was to deepen consensus in the Oireachtas in relation to the Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill published in March 2007. I appeal to the Minister to use her influence at Cabinet to ensure the children's rights referendum is put before the people as soon as possible. We all know that pre-election promises have been abandoned by the Fine Gael and Labour parties. However, post-election the Taoiseach gave a commitment that the children's rights referendum would be held along with the presidential election, which did not happen. I appeal to the Minister to use her influence to ensure that the children's rights referendum is held as early as possible in 2012 and that it is the only matter put before the electorate on that occasion. The issues involved are complex and deserve discussion and debate in society that will not be muddled with issues which might pertain to other referenda proposals. We are all aware of the short shrift which the Government's proposal on the Oireachtas inquiries received. That referendum was badly handled by the Government. We do not want a repeat of that on this particular issue. It is important there is all-party Oireachtas agreement prior to the referendum being put before the people.

Like Deputy McConalogue, I appeal to the Minister to ensure that the additional social worker appointments are made as quickly as possible. The HSE stated some time ago, as did the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, that there was no impediment to those appointments being made. It is important those new positions are filled as soon as possible. The eminent Dr. Helen Buckley stated in her report that pressure on front line services resulted in their being unable to respond quickly to many child welfare referrals. This highlights the need to have those extra personnel in place as soon as possible. I am sure the Minister will agree that she is fortunate to have people of the status, competence and commitment of Dr. Buckley, Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbons, and many others outside the public service, playing a leading role in dealing with children's issues. When they speak they do so with great authority, competence and status and have the respect of the overall community.

I understand the Minister is in the process of putting the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing. It is hoped the Minister is taking into account the comments of the Irish Association of Social Workers who have expressed some unease about the proposed standardised system being designed by the HSE to transform social workers' handling of child protection issues. As the Minister will be aware, the experience in other countries has been that the introduction of mandatory reporting has led to a significant increase in the number of reports and this puts significant pressure on social workers. The key issue is how to avoid vexatious claims and baseless allegations. We do not want the system to be clogged up with vexatious claims while genuine complaints may not be afforded the time or the resources they require. This is a very complex issue and I wish the Minister and her officials well in devising the protocols and the modus operandi for dealing with these issues.

I presume an audit of resources and an examination of international practice will be required. I hope the Minister can draw on the best international practice for mandatory reporting. The proper procedures and protocols are crucial before those guidelines become mandatory.

The report highlighted several breaches of the Children First guidelines, including, inadequate supervision of practices in the HSE and the family services and the absence of a standardised method of assessing the needs of children and young people who come to the attention of social services. It is important that protocols are adequate and appropriate and that everybody in the system, regardless of whether in Ulster, Connacht, Leinster or Munster, are working to the same standards. The report also referred to the need for specialised training for social workers in order to improve their investigative skills and to assist in engaging with families who are difficult to reach. These are very important issues and I hope they can be dealt with in a robust and constructive manner.

I understand a working group is in place to advance the proposal for a new agency. In cases where personnel are deployed to another agency, there is always the danger of a vacuum or lacuna being created which can be a concern to personnel. The structures need to be right and they need to be put in place as rapidly as possible. Oftentimes, unnecessary concerns can set in, along with a lack of enthusiasm, if a workforce is unsure about the particular reconfiguration and delivery of services. I hope the Minister and the Department can put in place the new agency as rapidly as possible and that it will have adequate protocols and resources to deal with the very important issue of protecting children.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Tom Barry is sharing time with Deputy Bernard Durkan and they have seven and a half minutes each.

Deputy Tom Barry

I thank the Minister for facilitating this debate. This new Government recognises the need to protect and care for children and it has created a specific Department under the competent stewardship of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. No death of a child in care is acceptable but such deaths occur. We have to focus on understanding the underlying reasons for such deaths. I was astonished when I saw the figure of 6,215 children who are in care and this figure is an increase of 900 in three years. A crowd of 6,000 people would fill a lot of Kildare Street, for example. While I accept that many people are more competent than me to speak on this issue, I will address this aspect of the report.

I commend the Minister on addressing the problem by focusing on understanding the issues and then by addressing them in a coherent fashion. I am a scientist and we are trained to lay out the facts and then figure out how to deal with them. It is very important to deal with a situation in a systematic fashion because a haphazard approach does not work. The Minister is correct when she says there is no quick fix to this legacy issue. However, we must ensure that each step forward is a step in the right direction. People are always looking for quick fixes and it is probably as a result of the Celtic tiger era when everything was quick; people had to earn money fast and the lifestyle was fast. The fact that there was a deterioration in lifestyles as a result is another issue.

I agree the State is not perfect and never has been and there have been failures. However, the new architecture for child welfare and protection and integrated family support services, is a great step forward. I refer to the six core principles set out by the Minister in her contribution. There must be a consistency of practice which should not be different from Cork to Donegal. Local management will be responsible for prioritising cases and this means that cases are less likely to slip through the net, so to speak. There must be an emphasis on prevention and early intervention. Financial discipline is crucial to ensure that resources are used to best advantage. Reliable and real-time data is vital in order to make coherent and correct decisions. Inter-agency collaboration will ensure that people communicate with each other and will allow for better use of facilities. We are all aware of the failures of the State in this regard and these are being addressed.

I am a parent and I ask why so many children, a total of 6,215, are in care. I ask what are the underlying reasons for children being in care in such numbers. Why is the family structure breaking down at an alarming rate? It may be factors such as alcohol abuse, mental health issues, drug use or financial distress. People in financial distress make decisions under stress. Personal responsibility must be taken into account. I suggest that funding be directed towards developing parenting skills. No parent is given a book of answers when it comes to rearing a child and every child is different even when all reared together. However, it must be noted that some children are under-fed while others are over-fed. In my view, nutrition needs to be emphasised. Home economics was a school subject which needs to be reintroduced to the school curriculum and it should be a mandatory subject. Food affordability will be an issue as food inflation increases. We do not want children going to school hungry nor children going to school obese. Both extremes are damaging. Families are feeding children with high carbohydrate and high fat diets. There is a lack of understanding of health issues. Feeding children a diet which will lead them to an early grave is irresponsible and the State must ensure this issue can be addressed.

When people have children they have responsibility both to them and to their State. The question is how we, as a State, can encourage people to rear their children and to show respect. I am a member of a school board of management and can report that teachers do a great job in this regard. They spot vulnerable children at an early age, intervene and help them. Sometimes all that is needed is a small intervention.

I refer, too, to foster parents. Their funding should be kept as it is and protected. These people are very sincere and decent and do considerable work that must be recognised. Other payments may be attacked but funding for foster parents should never be touched because it goes to the children.

I wish the Minister well in her job. I admire her open-mindedness and her progressive approach. This is a very serious issue and it is good to see the State is taking it seriously. Although we will not have success overnight each step we make in this regard is a step in the right direction.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this important legislation. For many years lip service has been paid to the need to recognise the needs of children, especially those who may be vulnerable. My colleague, Deputy Barry, very correctly addressed a number of related issues. He referred in particular to the large number of children in care of one kind or another. There is another cohort of people who perhaps should be in care and would be better off if they were, even if only for a short time or a period of respite.

The Minister has referred to the degree to which and the speed with which the services can respond to a situation before it becomes an emergency. That is important. As Deputy Barry noted, schools do very important work in this area. Teachers can spot sensitive issues and deal with them. However, school can be a challenging place for children who are vulnerable, given the extent to which bullying goes on in certain schools. That is the responsibility of another Department and the Minister for Education and Skills comments on it regularly.

It has been brought to our attention on numerous occasions in recent years that this problem seems to be happening to a greater extent now. It seems to have a more sinister theme because of the use of modern technology, the Internet, or whatever means. This area needs to be identified and monitored to a much greater extent than it has been and measures must be put in place to discourage such approaches. Children can be very cruel to one another, as all of us know. There is a need to reassure in a meaningful and supportive way those who may be vulnerable.without necessarily imposing statutory interventions. One can operate using gentle persuasions, at least in the initial stages.

In my experience as a public representative I have often noticed the reluctance on the part of institutions, for example, the HSE or any relevant authority, to take much account of points made by public representatives. I have said as much to the Minister. These people have regular daily interaction with the public, they meet parents and children and look at them face to face. The number of times public representatives have spotted issues that have not come to the attention of the authorities is enormous. If all the Members of this House were to consider this aspect of the situation as a starting point they would find it very informative.

We need a better system that would kick into action immediately a matter is brought to the attention of the authorities, whereupon certain people would assume responsibility and take action. How often have we heard of situations where something that is not desirable has happened even though there had been a prior report? The reported situation may seem correct or well grounded but if it comes to the attention of a public representative or to any member of the public, that person or representative has a moral duty to do something about the situation. Of course, there must be regard to the rights of the individual concerned and to the concept of innocence until proven otherwise. There are particularly sensitive households where there may be problems that do not ordinarily and readily present themselves in a public fashion. In such cases it is very important that an intervention be made.

My colleague made reference to contributory causes. Sadly, these were present during the good times, the boom years. Ironically and unfortunately, the availability of too much money was a factor. It was not the case that social welfare payments were greater then than they are now but there was too much money around. Very often the people in question were not in receipt of any social welfare payments, good, bad or indifferent, but money was available in quantity. There were continuous and obvious indications throughout that period that a great deal of money, over and above what was required in any given households, was available. In a situation like that, obviously problems will arise — and did.

In my time in this House I have come across people, mothers and children, sleeping in the open air. They are from both the settled and the Traveller communities. That is a sad, harsh reality. As time goes on and the economic situation becomes tighter this situation will become worse. It is a very sad reflection on our society that this should happen at all. During the Celtic tiger years there was less camaraderie and less emphasis on interaction of a voluntary nature. Ultimately, we became a rather smug society, avaricious in many ways.

I compliment the Minister on bringing this debate to the House and for emphasising the importance of her office. We, too, need to recognise that as we move into the future, whether we like it or not we will be judged on the way we treat those who are vulnerable in our society — the very young and the very old. That is a matter for another discussion at another time and we will deal with it when the time comes.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Paudie Coffey)

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has 15 minutes.

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien

I welcome this debate and thank the Minister for remaining in the House throughout. Too often Ministers come for the opening round of speaking slots and then must leave, for whatever reason. It is commendable that this Minister has been present for every contributor's speech.

Last week when the Dáil schedule was published and speaking slots allocated the matter was to be child protection. Only today I found out we were to speak on the actual report. The report warrants debate in the House and I welcome that development.

The report deals with 35 deaths and 16 serious incidents since March 2010 involving children in the care of the HSE, otherwise known to the organisation. Causes were suicide, drug overdoses, road traffic accidents. It made for very disturbing reading. However shocking those tragedies are for us who read the report this pales into insignificance when compared to the devastation experienced by the families of those children.

Regrettably, the report received very little coverage from the media. I do not know the reason for this, perhaps we have seen so many reports on child protection throughout the years that the media have become immune to the subject. That is a sad reflection, not only on the media but on us as a society. Most of the coverage amounted to no more than opinion pieces saying how terrible and awful it was and asking what should be done about it, without really addressing the core of the issue, which is that child protection services in this State are systematically flawed, are under-resourced and lack the robustness required of a system that is responsible for the safety and welfare of children.

The review panel was established on foot of a recommendation in the Ryan report. Sinn Féin welcomed the establishment of the panel. The HIQA guidance document that set out which incidents should be examined was so broad that it led to the work of the review panel being hindered in many ways. That is not to say we would change any of the cases that fell under the remit of the review panel. It is absolutely essential for there to be transparency in all of these cases. All deaths of children who were in care or known to the HSE, all cases of abuse involving death and all deaths involving children in aftercare services must be kept within the remit of the review panel.

The remit of the panel is so broad that additional resources are required. It must be able to conduct its business adequately within a timeframe that is conducive to getting to the root causes of deaths. It has to be able to identify where mistakes were made. An unfortunate result of the criteria set out in the HIQA guidelines is that a substantial number of cases need to be examined. The panel has to commence an incident review within four months and a death review within one month. That is a very short timeframe given that the panel is dealing with such a large volume of cases. It is for that reason that the child protection structures need to be adequately resourced.

Regardless of whether we provide more funding so that the panel can operate at the required level, or increase the number of people who are examining these cases, the timeframes are simply too short and need to be addressed. The review panel said in the report that the timeframes are unworkable. It is clear that the Ministers for Children and Youth Affairs and Health need to take this on board and examine it. I hope the Minister, Deputy Reilly, will consider the need to re-examine the guidelines that are in place.

It is important for the Government to commit to resourcing and implementing changes that address the high number of cases that social workers have to deal with. I acknowledge that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is doing her best in poor financial circumstances. It is not just her responsibility, however. The blame for cases of HSE child protection services failing to protect children does not lie squarely at the Minister's feet. As I have said, she is doing a difficult job under significant financial constraints. Her Cabinet colleagues are also responsible for ensuring the proper funding is in place to allow the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to do the job it needs to do.

I ask the Minister for Finance, who is holding the purse strings, to keep this area in mind when he is making budgetary decisions on the public expenditure of the HSE and the Department of Health. It has to be acknowledged that, as Deputy Ó Caoláin said this morning, children are unfortunately bearing the burden of the economic catastrophe we are experiencing. We constantly hear about children who are being taken into care. Substantial numbers of children are being placed in care. In some cases, that is happening not because of the inability of their parents or families to look after them, or because of a risk of abuse, but because their families simply cannot afford to raise them.

As previous speakers have said, some children in this State go to school hungry every single day. That is not the fault of their parents — it is the fault of the State for not providing services or resources to ensure it does not happen. When children enter the foster care system, there is an irregular pattern to their appointments with social workers. We need to address that. There is a long and sad history of separated children who are seeking asylum in this State being placed in inappropriate hostel accommodation before going missing from the system. As a State, we have never been fully accountable for these children.

I urge the Government to ensure the resources that are needed are provided. The number of social workers should be increased, if possible. The Government should make family-friendly budgetary decisions that ensure children can stay with their families. State care is not a good place for children in Ireland. The Government has an opportunity to make it better. I am sure it has the support of all parties in this House in its efforts. As I have said, the Cabinet as a whole needs to take responsibility for this issue. The Minister for Finance needs to ensure adequate resources are given to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs so that children can be put first.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Gabhaim buíochas léi as ucht an díospóireacht seo a láimhseáil. The Minister has perhaps the most important job in the Cabinet. For many people, she has become a signal of change and of a new start. Children have been put first by the Government and the State. It is important that a new Department is dedicated to children and youth affairs. The Minister was correct when she said it would have been better if this had been done ten years ago. The millions, if not billions, of euro that were spent on vanity projects could have been used more wisely. Hindsight is a great thing.

When parliamentarians are appointed to the Cabinet, they receive a seal of office from the Uachtarán and accept responsibility for their portfolios. Sadly, the State has been negligent in fulfilling many of its responsibilities. I say that as a Member of this House who has been involved with children for a long time. I have worked as a teacher and have been involved in Cumann Lúthchleas Gael. It is important, as stated in Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children, that we all recognise our responsibilities, obligations and duties. That is important for people who are involved with children at all levels, including parents, social workers, teachers, youth club workers and GAA trainers.

I commend Deputy O'Brien on his fine speech. I disagree with part of what he said about one matter. It is probably a bone of contention that will get me in a bit of trouble. An element of abdication of responsibility is creeping into and permeating Irish society. It is not correct to say that parents are not at fault in some cases. They are sometimes at fault. It should be possible for a person to say he or she is unable to be a parent. As a State, we should be able to help such people out. Vulnerable young women, in particular, have been let down by a State that has failed to assist them in the rearing of their children.

One of the great tragedies of the world today is our failure to put children first. We have not put children first. Young people require assistance, help, leadership and understanding in their most formative years. They need to be listened to, guided and brought along. Those of us who studied psychology know that children engage in imitative behaviour. Children imitate what they see and hear. We have an obligation, a duty and a responsibility to look after them.

The Children First guidelines state that no child should be shattered by abuse. Sadly, that is not the case. Look at one of the greatest universities in the world, Penn State in America. It has a college football programme which brings in millions of dollars each year but it has been mired in controversy this week because it allowed — I had better be careful because I am not in full possession of the facts and only know what I have read and heard — the lure of the dollar to influence decisions in regard child protection.

It is appalling that young children are shattered by abuse. During August I wrote a piece in the Evening Echo on the Cloyne report. I included a line in it, which I think was important, that for the first time ever, I knew one of the abused and one of the abusers. It was an appalling position in which to be. That young person who was abused will never forget it. It saddens me that we lived in a society in which we did not put the safety and protection of our children to the fore. Hillary Clinton was right — this is where I agree with Deputy Jonathan O’Brien — that it takes a village, a community, society, institutions, parents and grandparents to raise young people. Deputy O’Brien was also right when he spoke about the issue of fostering. We have outstanding foster parents in our communities. They reach out and bring the most vulnerable young people who need them the most into their homes. Fostering must play a greater role.

I have known the Minister for a long time and admire her as a person and as a Minister. I am very happy she is in this Department because this debate is important. To me, she is the most important Minister in Cabinet. This is about the deaths of young people. As the Minister said, any death is a tragedy but when it happens to young people in the care of the State, it is appalling.

I welcome the establishment of the national review panel and the publication of the report. I also welcome the Minister's speech today and her remarks prior to today. She said there is a regime change and a willingness to make a difference and that there will be no abdication of responsibility. She spoke about a stringent approach and I very much welcome the fact we are more stringent than the United Kingdom. We have no reason not to be.

It is important we have joined up thinking. I do not know the answer to this but I hope the Minister will address it in her concluding remarks. I hope we have joined up thinking between the Departments of Justice and Equality, Education and Skills, Social Protection, Health and the Minister's Department and that a lead is taken. For too long, there was a culture of indecision, passing the buck and of not accepting responsibility.

I go back to that key word "responsibility". The State can no longer say it is not responsible and that it was someone else's job. The reality is that the buck stops with of us, which is the way it should be. There must be joined up thinking because as the Minister said, there are 6,215 young people in the care of the State.

To go back to the Children First guidelines and striking a proper balance between protecting children and respecting the rights and needs of parents, carers and families, where there is conflict, the welfare of children must come first. That is why the Minister has my full support in taking her time with the children's referendum. Travel safely and slowly. The Irish phrase, taisteal go mall, is very appropriate here. There is no need to rush a referendum. We all accept there is a compelling need to have one but we must take our time to ensure we get the result we want, which is guaranteeing the protection and the welfare of children. If that requires time, I will support the Minister all the way because it is imperative that the rights of the child are taken seriously and that we understand the approach to be taken. I might not be correct in saying that but it is important we take our time.

A recent referendum was defeated. Some people in the Opposition were waiting to snipe at the Government and to vote against it. There were others in the wings who came in with a red herring. This referendum is far too important to play politics with it. It is about the most vulnerable children in our society.

The Minister used the word "architecture" a lot in her speech. It is a grandiose word which I like because it covers a multitude. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien referred to resources. The Minister said there was approval for additional social workers which is necessary as it is critical that there is an adequate number of social workers. However, resources are not everything. It cannot all be about resources and allocation of same because as the Minister said, there will be more than 25,000 referrals to social work child protection teams in 2011. That is a huge figure and why I go back to the following fundamental point. Given that the Minister accepts we have limited resources, there is a compelling need to have joined up thinking across all the Departments, institutions and organisations.

I very much welcome the fact the Minister said that 99% of all children in residential care have an allocated social worker, with 96% having a written care plan. We all accept it should be 100%. A written care plan is a key component and is important because it gives an identity and a sense of individualism to the person. We are talking about people here. These are not figures but people who we need to protect and look after. We have a responsibility to do that.

I refer to the multidisciplinary team approach to child abuse and neglect. If we are to make progress and achieve results, that multidisciplinary team must report and be answerable to somebody. It is not about buying a solution or publishing grandiose plans with PowerPoint presentations in glossy brochures. Those of us who work at the coalface of community and society either as teachers or volunteers understand those families which are struggling. We must offer the child who feels unprotected or unloved more than hope or platitudes in a guideline.

The GAA was one of the first organisations to introduce child protection. It did so at a time when such measures were not so widespread. I was involved in the implementation of this child protection code. Now, thankfully every club and county board has a child protection officer.

The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has my full support in her difficult job. However, she will make change happen. I believe in 25 years when the history of this period in politics is written, she will be seen as the driver of transformation in child protection measures. This report cannot be left on a shelf gathering dust but must be built upon. At the same time, after the recent referendum on Oireachtas inquires, we must get the children's rights amendment to the Constitution right. Taisteal go mall.

Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan

I have to take issue with Deputy Buttimer as one of those who opposed the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries. We were not sniping but had grave and serious reservations about the effect Oireachtas inquiries could have on a person's good name. We just wanted to express those.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

My comment was not directed at Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan.

Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan

I know but that was the context in which it happened.

Like Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, being informed this morning that we were to debate an actual report rather than child protection generally was disappointing as I would have liked to have had more time to prepare.

The report investigated the deaths of children in care, including deaths by natural causes, the deaths of children known to the child protection system, the deaths of young adults up to 21 years of age who were in the care of the Health Service Executive prior to their 18th birthday, in cases where confirmed or suspected abuse involved the death of or a serious injury to a child known to the HSE and serious incidents involving a child in care or known to the child protection service. This list is an appalling vista. Each of these deaths is regrettable and had to be investigated.

I am also conscious of those who died while in the care of the State in residential institutions and the Magdalene laundries. It is important to identify weaknesses in policy and practice. Vulnerable young people can become involved with a variety of services. All too often, because there are so many services involved, these young people can get lost between them all. It is important there is one key worker in charge of all of this to ensure no child falls through the gaps.

It is important the State acknowledges blame if it has contributed to any of the cases in question. The Minister claimed child protection is complex and challenging. I do not entirely agree with this. It would not be complex if the child were put at the centre of the care model. I know of the Minister's commitment to this issue and acknowledge the work she has already done with the interdepartmental group, the publication of the Children First guidelines and the child protection welfare practice handbook and the meetings she has held with various agencies and groups. Her background in social work helps in this.

The line "That changed some childish day to tragedy" in W. B. Yeats's "Among School Children" always struck me because no child's day should end up in tragedy. It is up to parents, society, schools and those social workers, probation officers, gardaí and youth workers, who through their work come in contact with children, to ensure children's rights are respected. The Government and Parliament also have a role to play in this regard and it is vital children's rights are inserted into the Constitution. That is all paperwork as it were, however.

Childhood should be a time of happiness and joy, a time of exploring and learning about boundaries. It should be a time when the adults in the lives of children offer support and guidance. All of this must contribute to the child's sense of self-esteem and self worth. If we get this right, the child will be able to move into adulthood, taking his or her place in society. It is most unfortunate this does not happen for significant numbers of children.

Many teachers, when they encounter a child for the first time in junior infants, have a good idea what road the child will take because of family and socio-economic background. Every child must have the opportunity to fulfil his or her potential. To achieve this, areas such as housing, schools, play and leisure activities must be involved. In the home, a child must feel protected and safe. We know this is not the case for all children. The State must play a more proactive role in providing safeguards and supports in such cases.

I know many dedicated social workers committed to the young people in their care. However, there are serious gaps in the service. Social workers need to be involved more in preventive strategies with families, in improving parental capacity and so reduce the risk of harm or abuse to children. It is vital early intervention is developed to avoid cases escalating and becoming a crisis management. With over 6,000 children in care, the biggest scandal is the lack of out-of-hours social services.

Due to these gaps, more children and teenagers are ending up in the juvenile justice system. Serious concerns have been expressed that boys of 16 and 17 years of age are still detained in St. Patrick's Institution, an environment not suitable to their needs as pointed out by the Irish Penal Reform Trust and many of the chaplains working in the Prison Service. At a briefing yesterday, the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, said the very fact that children were being incarcerated in a prison is a serious contravention of international human rights standards. If resources were put into prevention, no child would end up in prison. The Inspector of Prisons noted in 2009 that 25% of the juvenile population in St. Patrick's requested to be held in protection, fearing for their own safety. While 16 and 17 year olds do not consider themselves as children, they still are legally. Those detained in St. Patrick's should not be detained there. We know the type of skills they will learn in prison which will only have them back there in the future. We also know the significant number of people from certain areas in Dublin, some of which I represent, who are in and out of prison.

Schooling is not a level playing field. Schooling and education should further and enhance equality, not contribute to inequality. As both a teacher and through my involvement in voluntary youth work since the 1960s, I know how preventive measures can work. Getting children and young people into clubs, sporting organisations, art, music and drama, much of which is organised by volunteers, is very important to their development. The young people's facilities and services fund, which is now based in the Minister's Department, is a great initiative introduced ten years ago, making moneys available for capital projects, services and programmes. I chaired the group for north inner city Dublin. It was aimed at those most at risk of drug abuse and drug misuse. It provided many examples of great engagement with young people giving them opportunities to develop their talents and have fun while ensuring they were not involved in anti-social behaviour. In recent budgets, funding for many of these groups and clubs has been cut, leaving many in a precarious position, however. These are the groups working directly with young people to keep them out of the system this very report investigated. We have Garda diversion projects, the juvenile liaison officer system, case management of those coming to the attention of the law, and the Breaking the Cycle programmes. There is much good work going on directly with young people, and it is making a difference.

There are groups of young people who are particularly vulnerable, and the homeless are one of those groups. Serious child protection issues arise and there is a need for the youth homelessness strategy to be replaced. I suggest asking somebody like Peter McVerry for his input in that particular area.

Regarding migrant children, in Dublin's inner city there are very good youth projects working with unaccompanied minors but we have a complex immigration-residency-asylum system and we need a more efficient system of citizenship applications within a reasonable time.

I want to highlight again those children who have gone missing, some of them from State care.

On the removal of separated children to direct provision centres once they turn 18, I had some examples of that in a particular school. The young migrant children had completed fifth year but because they turned 18 they were moved out of the school and out of Dublin. I met the officials but they were not prepared to look at the individual. It was a system but no system will work unless we take the individual into account.

Regarding Traveller children, I know there are difficulties in this area because my own school was involved with Traveller education and there are no easy answers on that issue.

In terms of young people who turn to drugs and alcohol misuse and become addicted, on Monday night I attended one of the inner city projects, Soilse, where young men and women, some teenagers and some slightly older, were being awarded certificates because they had come through detox, recovery, rehabilitation and residential group work. Every one of those young people was in a positive place because the project was there to support them. The money for that project is saving the State far more than if those young people had continued on the addiction road. What struck me about them is that all of them wanted to give something back, and they wanted to do that with other young people.

We discussed previously the missing children hotline. We are one of the countries in Europe which has not put that in place. We know that the first 24 hours are crucial to safely recovering missing children and having a common helpline in member states of the European Union would speed up that vital response.

Regarding young people suffering homophobic bullying, we have a great organisation in Dublin Central called BeLonG To which is doing tremendous work with gay, lesbian and transgender young people.

The media coverage of young people was alluded to earlier. Hallowe'en is a problematic time for young people. Where I live in East Wall we had a terrific programme and one of the events was a parade which involved more than 800 people walking through the streets on Hallowe'en night. The Garda referred to the fact that there was no trouble at the parade but the media, most inappropriately, insisted on carrying stories involving the area which gave a completely different impression. There was no coverage of the positive events that went on organised by young people with the youth leaders for young people.

This morning we had a group in for the cross-party mental health group, Unilink, organised by Deputy Simon Harris. That is a group of people in third level working with vulnerable students who they want to retain in the system, and we were all impressed by the work they were doing. It was to do with the way they saw an issue. They did not wait for the State to do anything but got involved themselves. There are many examples of that going on because sometimes the State gets caught up in the bureaucracy and the people get lost in that.

We talk about our assets, money, economics etc. but our most valuable asset is our children and they must be protected.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Paudie Coffey)

I call Deputy Simon Harris who I understand is sharing time.

Deputy Simon Harris

Yes, possibly with Deputy Feighan.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to these statements on the floor of Dáil Éireann on the first annual report of the national review panel on serious incidents including the death of children in care. It is appropriate that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs acknowledged that debating these issues of reports arising from times when the State and other institutions failed to protect children must be extremely painful and difficult for families affected. However, I hope they can take some comfort in the knowledge that at least as a State we are now facing up to the neglect of the past, acknowledging the mistakes that have taken place and trying to move forward and ensuring that never again will we live in a country where child protection issues are brushed under the mat and not discussed.

What this raft of reports has done to the Irish psyche and the psyche of many parents across this country is damage their belief in the State. The job the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, this Government, this Oireachtas and the broader State is charged with is restoring trust and confidence in any of the services to do with child protection. That is a crucial point.

For as long as I can remember politics in this country has been dominated by the economy. In the boom years we were assessing the wealth of this nation in terms of the number of sun holidays the average family could take, the year of the car or cars in the driveway and the amount of money in one's bank account. We measured our national wealth in crude economic terms alone while at the same time many issues regarding child protection were ignored and the voices of children silenced at a time when this country had more money than sense. As we set about now rebuilding our economy we must remember and place at the forefront of all public discourse that repairing our economy is not an end in itself but merely a means to an end. It is a method of ensuring that as a nation we have the means to invest in our most important asset, our children, who are this country's future. We saw millions, and probably billions, of euro squandered and lost, something to which my colleague, Deputy Buttimer, alluded earlier. E-voting, the Bertie bowl and PPARS are just some of the words that ring in the ears of citizens when they consider the mistakes of the past.

One can only reflect, and someone in the position of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, must reflect on this regularly, on how those public funds could have been put to much better use. That is the Minister's legacy and any time there appears to be any type of difficulty, figures or reports she comes in for robust criticism from the Opposition, particularly from the previous Government. That criticism is superficial and hypocritical at best. At a time when this country was wealthy action was not taken. The Minister has achieved more in the past eight months while this country is in receivership — effectively in the ownership of the IMF and the ECB — than others achieved in 14 years and it is important to put that on the record of this House.

The Minister is now leading the first ever Cabinet level Department specifically and exclusively charged with children and their interests, needs and safety. That sends out an important message about this country, this Government and our ethos and attitude towards children.

Much has happened to date and one of the most important things, in terms of sending out a message that there is a new regime in charge and that we are taking a different approach to this area, is when the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, made the decision to personally chair the group implementing the recommendations from the Ryan report. We all remember the widespread and rightful anger, hurt and upset upon the publication of the Ryan report but it is very easy for that anger to dissipate as time passes. What is much more important and responsible is for somebody to politically take charge, chair the committee and take personal and political responsibility for action. That would be a new departure.

It is also important to note that the two pilot projects on out of hours services in both Donegal and Cork are now in place. I hope they continue, that the referendum is progressing and that much work is being done behind the scenes on that. The Minister has acted on those issues and that gives me the confidence, as a Government Deputy, to believe she will act on the recommendations of this annual report also. The recommendations refer to the standardisation of assessment and inter-agency work and much of the Minister's legislative agenda and putting those on a statutory footing will go some way towards meeting those recommendations.

Great praise must be given to Dr. Buckley and her colleagues who carried out this piece of work. The Tánaiste made a comment not long ago in Government Buildings when launching the review of various public sector bodies about the vilification of public servants in the past by the previous Government. This report tells us that in many cases good practice was being followed. There were good, decent people doing their very best in very difficult circumstances and they were let down by a lack of inter-agency co-operation, a lack of information sharing and a lack of standardisation in the way problems were dealt with, received and reported. There are good people working in the area of child protection and that must be acknowledged because now more than ever we need the morale of those people to be high. We need them to put their shoulder to the wheel and I am confident they will do that. It is important that we do not personally vilify people who have been professionally charged. There is an accountability issue but the problems in the area of child protection go much wider than any individual.

We hear a great deal about red herrings when it comes to child protection, and the seal of the confessional was one of those. As a Government and an Oireachtas I urge that we debunk every red herring thrown at us. We have seen in the past the way referenda can be defeated. We should make sure that when the referendum on children's rights is put before the people we debunk all the myths. There is no evidence to suggest that children's rights counteract parental rights. We should be able to secure broad political and societal support for a referendum on children's rights and I hope we do so. I concur with colleagues that it is vital the referendum is held as a matter of urgency but it should not be held one moment before the proper wording has been agreed. We will not have a second chance, as was the case with previous referendums. The Minister is seeking an important constitutional change and will only have one go at securing it.

Clearly, the Minister and her Department will uncover more examples of neglect and State failure. They would probably not be doing their job if they did not find more such cases. For a long time, such failures were brushed under the carpet, concealed and not talked about. I expect we will go through a difficult period in which we will learn of more cases that disgust and appal us. We should be encouraged and enthused, however, given that the issue if finally being addressed.

I will pick up on a point made by Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan on the Ombudsman for Children because we need to learn an important lesson in this regard. A small group of children still does not have access to the services of the Ombudsman for Children. The Minister and her colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Quinn, have stated in the Chamber and in reply to written parliamentary questions that they will examine the possibility of extending the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to vulnerable children who interact with the National Council for Special Education. The inability of the Ombudsman for Children to interact with children detained in St. Patrick's Institution is another bizarre anomaly. I ask the Minister to have her officials examine this issue, which has been flagged by the Ombudsman for Children and should be rectified.

This is an exciting time in politics because children and youth affairs is finally being prioritised. This area is no longer covered by a super junior Ministry or committee chairmanship but by a Cabinet level Minister who sits alongside all other senior Ministers. I concur with Deputy Jonathan O'Brien that it is crucial that the Minister is given the resources and supports in Cabinet to fulfil her role. The Taoiseach's decision to establish the Department is an indication of the importance he attaches to it. I wish the Minister well and thank her for her work to date. It is essential that we proceed with the legislative changes required and the referendum on children's rights as quickly as possible. I hope the quick action taken by the Minister and the political accountability she has shown in the past eight months are enhanced, maintained and encouraged.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald)

I welcome the wide range of comments made in the course of the debate and the acknowledgement by many Deputies of the importance not only of the issue before us but also the broader issue of child protection and the need to develop services and provide the resources required in this area. I also note their concern that children should be placed centre stage and resources must be allocated to ensure we deliver the type of integrated services that are required.

Clearly, there are major legacy issues in the area of child protection, which has been underfunded, under-resourced, under-attended and, in recent years, cut back. Moreover, information on child protection has lacked consistency. I am shocked by much of what I am uncovering in respect of the lack of data about the state of child protection services. A systemic audit of the services is being carried out and I will publish data and bring them to the attention of Deputies as I receive them. It is important that we carry out a serious examination of child protection services and the serious challenges faced by those on the front line.

I will not be able to repair the deficit in children's services overnight. While this task will take time to complete, I am confident that the building blocks are beginning to be put in place to ensure we have a child protection service of which we can be proud. I await a number of further reports. I will shortly receive a report on child deaths over the past ten years and the HSE audit of the church dioceses will also be presented shortly, as will a number of other reports. These will paint a disturbing picture and present a major challenge.

As I noted, the area of child protection has been underfunded. Serious cutbacks were imposed on the services last year. The provision for child protection services in the HSE was underfunded and continues to show a serious deficit. Proper provision has not been made for this area over the years and funding provisions have been absorbed into other areas. All of this makes for a highly challenging scenario.

Deputies raised a wide range of issues. In response to Deputy Harris's point on St. Patrick's Institution, I will ask my officials to examine the issue. I am concerned that 16 and 17 year old children remain in the institution. While I do not have budgetary provision for moving the young people in question elsewhere, the Government remains committed to delivering such a change in its lifetime. I am discussing this matter with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, who understands its seriousness and the need for decisions to be taken.

Deputies spoke of the range of factors which affect children, many of which were referred to in the national review panel report. Young children experiencing poverty is clearly a pressure while the most common form of abuse is neglect. Many families are presenting to the child and family services.

The children's referendum will be held in 2012. It is important to note that all lobbying groups and specialist agencies in the area of child protection supported my decision to take time to get the wording right and ensure people understand the reasons the referendum is necessary. If anything, recent developments have reinforced the need for members of the public to understand the reasons for referendums and their nuances and implications. Only then will they support the children's referendum. I look forward to working with all those who spoke on the issue and receiving cross-party support when we publish the referendum wording.

A number of Deputies referred to the number of social workers. By the end of 2011, an additional 60 social workers will be in place, all of which are new and extra posts. It is important to note that we have maintained social worker numbers in the face of extraordinary financial pressures. I pay tribute to the work of Mr. Gordon Jeyes who is under great pressure regarding the filling of new social worker posts. I confirm that the HSE national director is filling vacancies. Many members of the HSE social work service have gone on maternity leave in the past year and many of the subsequent vacancies have been filled despite the significant financial pressures facing the HSE. I would like to have more resources to build social work teams but the financial pressures on the HSE and child and family protection services are severe. Budgets are contracting at a time of significant additional cost pressures arising from the courts demanding more specialist care for children and increasing costs in the guardian ad litem system. I reiterate that I regret some of these issues were not addressed more comprehensively when more money was available.

A number of Deputies referred to after care. In the past year, aftercare workers have been allocated to approximately 1,000 young people and a new aftercare policy has been introduced which will make a difference. We must provide continuous care as opposed to aftercare because that is what young people who have been in care need. There is significant new awareness of this issue and a commitment to providing this type of care in the HSE.

It is unrealistic for Deputies to ask the reason the child and family support agency has not yet been established. It will take some time to make the transition from the Health Service Executive. A task force is examining the transition and we are disaggregating the work of the child and family services in the HSE and creating a new budget line. In the coming year a shadow agency will start to operate in the HSE and the new agency will be in place by January 2013.

There is serious work to be done on the transfer of staff. Several Deputies spoke about this challenge and gave support to those staff, and I will certainly take their points on board.

There has been much progress. Deputies who talk about going backwards are not appreciating the rate of change and the amount of change that has taken place. We have set up a cross-departmental working group to deal with the implementation of Children First. I am now chairing the Ryan implementation group. The progress report of the implementation group was placed before the House in July. Many Deputies raised the question of an out-of-hours service. We now have two pilot projects in Cork and Donegal. We now have an implementation group to oversee the roll-out of a national out of hours service. Many other initiatives have taken place. The Garda vetting Bill will be in place over the next few months. There has been much progress, but the challenge is enormous.

I want to thank all the Deputies who spoke on this report today. HIQA is examining the report and its officials will discuss whether the terms of reference should be changed for examining the deaths of children who have been in contact with the HSE or who are in care. I will ensure that this work is done promptly, so that we can take on board the recommendations made by Professor Helen Buckley, who produced the report in the first place.

I also thank the Deputies for the range of issues they raised today, and I look forward to further debates on this important area of child protection and welfare.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 17 Nov 2011

Review of Serious Incidents including Deaths of Children in Care: Statements

Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 Nov 2011