Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 September 2013
175. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which the details of children reported as missing-mistreated or abused are referred to her Department; if information available to different Departments is collated and made available to her Department or a central body with a view to a co-ordinated response; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38984/13]
View answerStatutory responsibility for the delivery of child welfare and protection services rests with the HSE, which is the appropriate body to receive all reports of concerns relating to all forms of child abuse. My Department occasionally receives calls from individuals concerned about the safety and wellbeing of a child. In all such cases my officials provide whatever assistance is required to allow such an individual make a proper referral to the statutory authorities. Such assistance can often include my officials contacting the HSE directly on behalf of a correspondent.
In the case of missing children, these cases should always be notified to the Gardai in the first instance. In addition, the 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. In Ireland the service is operated by the ISPCC. Funding for the operation of the line in Ireland is being provided by my Department and the EU, through its Daphne funding stream. The funding received from both the EU Daphne fund and from DCYA includes the establishment costs, national promotion and advertisement of the service. 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 5 June last.
My Department is also taking a lead role in Children First implementation issues. An Interdepartmental Group has been established to promote the importance of Children First compliance across Government and to ensure consistency of approach. The group also provides a forum for sectors to raise and discuss overarching policy issues around Children First and reporting. I would emphasise however that this is not a mechanism for reporting, or dealing with, individual cases.
