Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2014
14. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the findings of the Child Care Law Reporting Project that the rate of child care orders being sought varies considerably in different parts of the country; if her attention has been drawn to the large discrepancy in the figures between towns of comparable populations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14197/14]
View answerI launched the Child Care Law Reporting Project in November 2012 to provide information on the circumstances that lead the Child and Family Agency to seek Care and Supervision Orders in Court. The Project provides a snapshot report of selected cases from courts around the country. It does not report on all cases. The majority of cases reported on to date were in Dublin.
The report provides an account of the sad and sometimes tragic circumstances of children's lives, the work of the Agency in providing for their welfare and protection and the role of the courts in deciding on applications for the various orders.
The Project published Child Care Statistics for 2012 that are gathered by the Courts Service. These statistics show the court activity with respect to the numbers and types of applications being heard in Dublin and in 34 courts around the country and that the volume of applications varies greatly between towns of similar size. The figures relate to the number of orders rather than the number of children in care. There are no significant discrepancies in the number of children in care across the local areas. National data at 31/12/12, shows that 42% of children were in care by way of voluntary agreement with parent(s), 46% were under a Care Order, 9% were under an Interim Care Order and 2% under an Emergency Care Order.
The largest single category of application was for Interim Care Orders. This number is inflated in the period by a legal requirement for renewal of such orders every eight days. However, a change in legislation early in 2013 has reduced the need for repeat applications in 2013.
The Child and Family Agency, which was established on 1st January last, will bring a renewed focus on delivering safe and effective services for children and families who need a wide continuum of supports and interventions. The Agency will address the persistent issues which have been raised regarding the standardisation of approaches to dealing with families where there are concerns about the welfare and protection of children. Historically, some areas would have worked more on a voluntary basis with families where others would have sought the assistance of the Courts earlier.
It is a matter for the Court Services as to how they arrange for the hearing of child care proceedings in different areas and how they produce their statistics. I am not therefore in a position to comment further on the information on court activity provided in this report.
