Written Answers Nos. 15-23
15. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her priorities in terms of managing access to adoption records; the amount of expenditure incurred by her Department to preserve and catalogue adoption records, particularly the records which are transferring and which have been transferred to the Child and Family Agency and formerly the Health Service Executive from former adoption societies. [14015/14]
View answer20. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the present obstacles that exist to allow persons access to adoption records which have recently been transferred to the custody of the Health Service Executive from a range of institutions; when these records will be catalogued and made available; if she has had any dialogue with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in relation to enhancing the State's archival and preservation capacity in the area of records; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14198/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 20 together.
The Child and Family Agency provides an Information and Tracing Service throughout the country to birth mothers, adopted persons and their families. The Adoption Act 2010, requirement that agencies providing Information and Tracing services would gain accreditation resulted in a number of religious orders deciding not to apply for accreditation and transferring files from their Mother and Baby Homes and Adoption Societies to the Health Service Executive. These services are now the responsibility of the Child and Family Agency.
The Agency advises that priorities include the reduction in waiting time for the information and tracing service through the following initiatives:
- The re-distribution of records from individual institutions in their entirety to the appropriate adoption teams around the country
- The re-deployment of social workers within existing adoption teams to information and tracing work.
This work has seen a net increase of five staff to the information and tracing service and the benefit of this will be evident in the immediate term.
Approximately 25,000 files have been transferred to the Agency Regional Adoption Service in Cork, from the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, which had responsibility for Bessboro, Co Cork; Sean Ross Abbey, Roscrea, Co Tipperary; and Castlepollard, Co Westmeath. Work by the Agency on the organising and storage of these files has taken place and the Agency is anxious to preserve the integrity of these records. The Agency has sought the advice of the National Archives in relation to the proper storage of these files that are of great significance.
The Agency also has records that include those for St. Anne’s Adoption Society; St Mary’s Adoption Society, Kerry; Ard Mhuire, Dunboyne, Co Meath; Limerick Catholic Adoption Society; St Patrick's Mother and Baby Home Navan Road, Dublin; St Louise's Adoption Society Dublin; Dublin Health Authority Board of Assistance; Rotunda Girls Aid Society; the Ossory Kilkenny Adoption Society; St Kevin's and St Johns Adoption Societies. Furthermore PACT, who are an agency accredited under the Act, have records of various Protestant organisations.
Records already transferred to the Child & Family Agency are, for the most part, stored in the offices of the Child and Family Agency with a small number retained in appropriate commercial storage facilities. With respect to records which have yet to transfer to the Child & Family Agency, discussions are currently underway with St Bridget’s Adoption Society, the National Maternity Hospital and St Patrick Guild. There is a significant volume of documentation involved in the transfer of these records, particularly with respect to St. Patrick Guild, and the safe and secure preservation and storage of these historical documents forms part of these discussions. A review of the costs associated with this work and other aspects of the scanning, archiving and storage of adoptions records is underway.
The Agency has advised that, in the first instance, any person seeking information on adoption, or an illegal registration of a birth, should contact the Adoption Authority of Ireland or the Child and Family Agency Community Services who will assist in directing them to the personnel dealing with their particular records.
16. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Government is committed to the Hague Convention as the safest regulations in place for inter-country adoption. [14004/14]
View answer25. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on reports that only 11 children have been adopted from abroad under the terms of the Hague Convention on adoption, which Ireland ratified in November 2010, even though there are 537 active declarations; her plans to speed up this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14012/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 25 together.
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is a multilateral treaty concluded on May 29, 1993 in The Hague, Netherlands. There are currently 93 contracting states to this Convention. Ireland ratified the Convention on 1st November 2010. Ireland strongly supports the principles of the Convention, which strengthen protections for children, birth parents, and prospective adoptive parents in the adoption process. The Convention provides a framework for Convention countries to work together to ensure that adoptions take place in the best interests of children and to prevent the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children in connection with intercountry adoption. The Convention requires authorities to prioritise the improvement of domestic systems for the care and adoption of children. This is in line with Article 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Ireland has also ratified. The increasing international recognition and commitment to the Hague Convention, particularly amongst a growing number of developing countries, is extremely welcome in providing safeguards for adoption processes and for those children whom are now benefiting from improved child welfare, protection and care arrangements in their own countries.
Under current Irish legislation, applicants who seek an assessment as to their eligibility and suitability to adopt are entitled to that assessment from the Child and Family Agency. The assessment leads to an application to the Adoption Authority for a Declaration of Eligibility & Suitability to Adopt. If the applicants are found to be eligible and suitable, then a Declaration is issued. A declaration allows an applicant to apply to adopt, it is not a guarantee that an adoption will take place. It is now a reality that the numbers of children available for intercountry adoption has fallen worldwide. For example, total number of children adopted into the top twelve receiving states in 2004 was 43,142. In 2011, this figure had dropped to 21,911 or by some 50 per cent. The Adoption Authority can only authorise placement of children with applicants where the children are available for adoption and have been referred by the sending country in question.
Significant work is under way with suitable countries where there is potential to promote closer cooperation in intercountry adoption matters. Following Vietnam's ratification of the Hague Convention Ireland was the first country to conclude an administrative agreement relating to intercountry adoption. A similar agreement has been put in place with the United States. The Adoption Authority is currently engaging with a number of other Hague Convention countries in relation to intercountry adoptions including the Central Authority for India, China, Thailand and the Philippines. Haiti is due to enter into the Hague Convention next month and a delegation from the Adoption Authority will visit there next week. I am also aware that Ethiopia is currently seeking to bring its adoption standards up to those required under the Hague Convention and I have asked the Adoption Authority to keep me updated on the position. It is important to recognise that, although a country may be a member of Hague, legal and administrative obstacles may remain, there may be no children available for adoption or restrictions may be set in relation to the categories of children or prospective adoptive parents qualifying for intercountry adoption.
The Adoption Act, 2010 requires that adoptions from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention can only take place where there is a bi-lateral agreement in place or under certain transitional arrangements which applied to certain prospective adoptive parents who had commenced the adoption process before the Adoption Act came into effect. Russia has not ratified the Hague Convention. However, my Department is continuing its discussion with the Russian authorities with a view to exploring the possibilities of establishing a bi-lateral agreement. I visited Russia in September of last year in this regard and my Department and the Adoption Authority subsequently hosted a visit from the Russian authorities. Official discussions are continuing.
17. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to extend the powers and remit of the Ombudsman for Children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14200/14]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that I have already made significant changes to the remit of the Ombudsman for Children and have no immediate plans to further extend the powers and remit of the Ombudsman for Children.
The Ombudsman for Children produced a report in March 2012 entitled ‘A Report by the Ombudsman for Children on the operation of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002’. This was in accordance with her role under Section 7 of the 2002 Act to review the operation of the legislation and she laid the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with Section 13 of the Act. This report contains a number of recommendations on a range of topics, some particular to specific sectors, including Justice and Education, and others with wider implications.
One of the recommendations was to extend the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to complaints in respect of boys detained in St. Patrick's Institution. The Deputy will already be aware that I made an Order by Statutory Instrument Number 210 of 2012 which took effect on 1st July 2012, in consultation with my colleague Minster Shatter, to extend the remit for the Ombudsman for Children to include children in detention in St Patrick's Institution.
Later in 2012, through the process towards the enactment of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, I worked closely with Minister Howlin and the Ombudsman for Children to achieve a significant expansion of the remit of her office. With effect from 1st May 2013, the bodies within the remit of each Ombudsman and the process for changes to their remits have been greatly expanded and largely aligned. As a result of amendments contained in sections 4 and 22 of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 any reviewable agency which comes under the remit of the Ombudsman will now automatically come under the remit of the Ombudsman for Children. Thus the jurisdictions of both offices are aligned and there is legal certainty and clarity on the matter.
Some outstanding recommendations from the above-mentioned reports of March 2012 are being considered in conjunction with other Departments and I will consider the need to bring forward legislative proposals in due course if appropriate.
18. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the practice of child beauty pageants; her plans to ban such events; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14006/14]
View answerI share the deep distaste of colleagues for events such as child beauty pageants which are not at all appropriate for children.
I have asked my Department to examine options which can be taken. My Department has commissioned and funded a research project which is being conducted by University College Cork and which is looking at the impact of commercialisation and sexualisation of children in Ireland. This important research is currently undergoing peer review and is expected to be published before the Summer.
In addition, I can confirm that my Department has commissioned the Centre for Effective Services to undertake an international review of other countries' responses to these issues, which will build on the University College Cork research project, and which I would hope will inform the Government's response and future actions.
I believe there is a strong role for civil society and public opinion leaders in highlighting the dangers of child beauty pageants and I very much welcome the cross party Seanad motion on this issue to which the Government gave its support. The answer is not always legislative and I would note that legislative proposals in France on banning pageants ran into difficulties in light of criticisms regarding the vagueness around the specifics of what types of events were addressed. I also believe this issue must be seen in the context of the broader sexualisation and commercialisation of children. As part of my efforts to tackle these broader problems, in 2012 I extended an invitation to the Irish retail sector to respond to increasing concerns about the sexualisation of childrenswear. Retail Ireland, responded to my call and accepted my invitation to bring forward Ireland’s first ever guidelines on the 'responsible retailing of childrenswear'.
These guidelines are not just about restricting what retailers can sell, but instead provide a more constructive guidance on best practice on a range of issues such as styling, slogans, age-appropriateness, size, labelling and marketing. I believe this code is now playing an important and constructive role in informing future decision-making by retailers and I am happy to report that the number of complaints regarding inappropriate childrenswear have fallen. However I would urge parents to continue to feedback any concerns or complaints, either in-store or by contacting retail@ibec.ie.
An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha, The Irish Dancing Commission, is also to be commended for their introduction of additional rules prohibiting the use of make-up including false eye lashes, the tinted make-up I mentioned, and artificial tanning products for the face. Dancers who are ten years of age or younger may no longer compete using any of these.
19. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the contact that she has had with the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána in relation to allegations that Traveller children, including a 16 day old baby, were assigned criminal intelligence PULSE numbers as a matter of routine; the position regarding children's rights in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14000/14]
View answer24. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the contact she has had with the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána regarding allegations that Traveller children, including a 16 day old baby, have been registered on the PULSE system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14013/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 24 together.
I can inform both deputies that I have had no contact with the Department of Justice and Equality or with An Garda Síochána in relation to the matter outlined in the questions above. I have no function in this matter. I am aware that my colleague Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter has recently replied to similar questions which have been put to him in this matter.
21. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the findings on the right to equality and non-discrimination of Traveller and migrant children contained in the Children's Rights Alliance Report Card 2014; her plans to immediately address these deficiencies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14008/14]
View answerI note the concerns expressed in the Children’s Rights Alliance’s Report Card 2014 in relation to improving the lives of Traveller and migrant children. The Programme for Government commits the Government to promoting greater coordination and integration of delivery of services to the Traveller and migrant community across Government, using available resources more effectively to deliver on principles of social inclusion, particularly in the area of Traveller education.
The National Children and Young People’s Policy Framework, which I plan to launch shortly, will cover the seven year period from 2014 to 2020 and will address Government commitments in relation to Traveller and migrant children.
Eighteen youth projects receive funding targeted at young travellers, separated children seeking asylum and young refugees. These projects offer a wide range of programmes and services aimed at young people at risk of early school-leaving, truancy, social exclusion, substance misuse and involvement in crime. Funding for these projects in 2014 will amount to approximately €1.6 million. In addition in 2014 over €0.2 million is being provided to INVOLVE, formerly known as the National Association of Traveller Centres, under the Youth Service Grant Scheme.
With regard to education, through its various interventions in the education sector, the Government is committed to improved retention rates, better learning experiences and improved outcomes for all children, including children who are members of the Travelling and migrant community. Recorded overall Traveller participation rates in education in recent years has shown a steady increase, as do rates for participation in the junior cycle and for progression to senior cycle. The new Child and Family Agency also has a role to play in the context its statutory remit for services previously provided by the National Educational Welfare Board, relating to educational welfare and school completion.
For separated children seeking asylum, the Child and Family Agency has a national operational policy on the standards and services to be provided. The policy seeks to achieve equity and equality of services to separated children seeking asylum vis a vis all children at risk and to ensure that there is no differentiation of care provision, practices, priorities, standards or protocols for such children. In April 2013, a report commissioned from Barnardos and entitled "Foster Care and Supported Lodgings for Separated Asylum Seeking Young People in Ireland: The views of children, carers and stakeholders" was launched. The research showed that enormous improvement had been made in terms of the care being provided to separated children.
On the subject of immigrant integration, the Government decided to commence a review of the current integration strategy with the intention of developing a modern, cross-Departmental policy for the coming years, encompassing a whole of Government approach. A high level committee has been established under the auspices of the Department of Justice and Equality, and an official from my Department attended its inaugural meeting yesterday. My Department is also represented on the National Traveller Monitoring and Advisory Committee, which is under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality.
22. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps that are open to an adult who was the victim of sexual abuse and had that abuse compounded by inadequate child protection decision made by personnel who remain in a senior position within the Health Service Executive. [14002/14]
View answerThe Health Service Executive (HSE) operates a formal complaints procedure, where a service user who is not satisfied with the service received may make a complaint to the HSE. Details of how to make a complaint and how complaints are managed can be found in "Your Service, Your Say", on the HSE website at www.hse.ie. The Child and Family Agency has been established since January 1st 2014 and I am advised that the Agency is at this time continuing to use the HSE’s complaints mechanism. If a person is not satisfied with the outcome of the HSE's review of the complaint, he/she may request an independent review of the complaint from the Office of the Ombudsman or Ombudsman for Children.
23. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the discussions which she has had with other Departments on foot of the publication of the audit report on neglect cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14016/14]
View answerI provided the Deputy with a comprehensive update on the 12th February on this matter, including a description of the work which is being done on a cross-Government and inter-agency basis to ensure the provision of a timely, comprehensive and integrated service to vulnerable children and families. The position remains as outlined in my recent response and I will be happy to provide an update for the Deputy as matters are further progressed.
