Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
632. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will give a detailed progress report on the missing children's hotline; if she allocated adequate resources to deal with the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35965/13]
View answerThe 116000 Missing Children Hotline is an EU-wide initiative designed to provide a single point of contact across the European Union for missing children and their families. The number is currently operational in 23 EU countries and the number has been allocated and is soon to be operational in a further four countries, including Croatia, the newest EU Member State. In Ireland the 116000 Missing Children Hotline is operated by the ISPCC in liaison with a cross-sectoral Project Team, chaired by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Funding for the operation of the line in Ireland is provided by my Department and the EU, through its Daphne funding stream. My Department provided €50,000 in 2012 and €88,000 in 2013 and the funding received from both the EU Daphne fund and from my Department includes; the establishment costs, national promotion and advertisement of the service. In common with all Exchequer funding, requirements for the operation of the service in future years will be considered in the context of the usual Estimates process. The Missing Children Hotline has been operating on a limited hours pilot basis in Ireland since December 2012 and on a full-time 24/7 basis since end April, 2013. The service was officially launched on 7 June 2013.
A key component of the service is a successful awareness programme. It is vital that those who could benefit from the service know that it exists and that users are aware of the scope of the service. During the initial set-up phase of the service, the ISPCC focused on community based promotion of the service. This included presentations to local community groups. Posters, flyers and business cards have been distributed to all Garda stations from Garda headquarters, and promotional material has been distributed to a variety of community based projects in various locations throughout the country. Further, the ISPCC has made extensive use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to advertise this service on an ongoing basis. The successful launch of the service on 7 June 2013 also provided the opportunity to further promote the service. The 116000 Missing Children Hotline website, www.missingchildrenhotline.ie, has also been launched to promote the service. To date, an amount of some €35,000 has been spent on awareness measures. This amount will be doubled for further awareness measures in the remainder of 2013. It is important to note that the 116000 number is not an emergency number. Emergency calls should always be directed to the 999/112 number in the first instance, where the relevant emergency responses, including the recently launched Garda Missing Children Amber Alert mechanism, may be activated. The establishment of the 116000 line will, however, be of valuable support and assistance to families of missing children and to missing children themselves.
