Charlie McConalogue
Question:61Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to provide guardians to all unaccompanied children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8298/12]
View answerTuesday, 14 February 2012
Questions (5)
Oral answers (5 contributions)
Appointment of a guardian ad litem, GAL, is provided under section 26 of the Child Care Act 1991. Under this provision, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem to a child who is the subject of care proceedings, if it is satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of the child and in the interests of justice to do so. They are always appointed where a child is subject to special care proceedings. I should point out that I do not have a role in the appointment of guardians. That is a matter for the courts.
Under the Child Care Act 1991, the Health Service Executive, HSE, is responsible for the care and protection of separated children seeking asylum until they reach 18 years of age. Their immediate and ongoing needs as well as their application for refugee status are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive in accordance with the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) and the Child Care Act 1991. Where children are identified by An Garda Síochána, at the point of entry, their circumstances are investigated and if there are any concerns about their welfare, they are placed into the care of the HSE. In the majority of cases, separated children seeking asylum are not subject to court proceedings as the HSE accepts them into care on a voluntary basis.
When a separated child seeking asylum comes into care, he or she is allocated a professionally qualified social worker. The child's needs are assessed and he or she is placed in the most appropriate placement. A social worker also assists the young person with his or her application for asylum. The social workers allocated to separated children seeking asylum have received specialised training in this regard.
There is a national policy on standards for separated children. The policy states - it did not always say this but it does now - that those children should be treated equally with other vulnerable children and that there will be no differentiation of care provision, care practice, care priorities, standards or protocols for those children. That is extremely important. The number of children seeking asylum has steadily declined since its peak of 1,085 in 2001 to just 105 in 2010.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
The Implementation Plan on the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009, contained a commitment that the HSE would end the use of separately run hostels for separated children seeking asylum and accommodate children in mainstream care, on a par with other children in the care system. In accordance with this commitment, the HSE phased out hostel type care for separated children seeking asylum and since January 2011, hostels have not been used to accommodate unaccompanied minors. Instead each child is cared for either in a foster care placement or a children's residential centre. Social workers, residential staff and foster carers are trained in the needs of separated children seeking asylum and are attentive to children who are not settling in a placement or those who may be particularly vulnerable due to past abuse or other trauma.
I thank the Minister for her reply on this matter. The key issue at stake here is how we deal with unaccompanied minors, that is, those presenting as children with no parents along with them, coming in to this country. As the Minister stated, the numbers have decreased, from over 1,000 in 2001 to just 105 last year. However, of the 79 unaccompanied minors in State care as of January this year, only eight had guardians appointed.
An issue of particular concern is that, between 2000 and 2010, 512 unaccompanied children seeking asylum went missing from the HSE. Of those, only 72 have been found, which means that 440 of those 512 children who disappeared from the care of the State in those ten years have never been found. My concern is that we ensure we look after those children and they get the proper care, but also that we ensure our country is not open to those who might want to engage in child trafficking. When so many children come into the country and then disappear - as I stated, 440 in ten years - not to be found by the HSE, that gives rise to serious concerns as to the safety of this country and ensuring it is secure from child traffickers. Although I would not in any way suggest that such activity is what is going on in the majority of these cases, it is something about which we must be careful. According to the Immigrant Council of Ireland, there is some evidence that child trafficking is taking place. What does the Minister plan to do to ensure the safety of children presenting in this country?
I share the Deputy's concern about this vulnerable group of young people. I wrote a report on unaccompanied asylum seekers and young people in this country. I was appalled at what I found and made a number of recommendations at the time, which was a number of years ago, including that these young people should be treated the same as Irish young people in care and that the same procedures, standards and support should be available. That was not the case a number of years ago and what has happened over the past ten years is disturbing.
These young people are not now placed in hostels, where they were very vulnerable. Some 105 unaccompanied young people came into this country last year and they are assigned a foster care placement or a children's residential centre if a foster home is not available immediately. That is a much better situation than what existed previously. Children were in hostels that were unsuitable and did not have the supervision they needed. They could have been vulnerable to trafficking or other dangers. Today, the situation is much clearer and the standards that apply are higher than what applied previously. The placements are better and more supervised and I pay tribute to the social workers who have worked in difficult circumstances over the past number of years. A specially trained team of social workers work with these children, who were in the most vulnerable situation. They deserve the very best care when they find themselves in this isolated situation where they are unaccompanied coming into this country.
I understand three unaccompanied minors went missing from HSE care in 2011. Ensuring that our services are strong so that this does not happen is critical to ensuring this country is not seen as somewhere open to child trafficking. I encourage the Minister to ensure we make every effort so that we have a robust service to ensure children are kept safe.
I agree and it is important these young people get the very best care. They are very vulnerable and the situation I have outlined to Deputy McConalogue is a huge improvement. ComReg recently made a decision on the missing children hotline and it will be available later in the year. It is a small but important element.
Regarding the number of missing children, sometimes children leave residential care and are two or three hours late coming back. These situations are reported and I have had discussions with HSE and the Garda Síochána about the appropriate management of children who might be at risk. There are many routine referrals when children are a few hours late and turn up in the residential centre. I take Deputy McConalogue's point on supporting these young people.
Question No. 62 answered with Question No. 58.