Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 March 2023
224. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will confirm whether he intends to bring forward any further amendments of the Childcare Act 1991, particularly reforms of voluntary care arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15398/23]
View answerThe Child Care Act 1991 is the primary piece of legislation regulating child care (alternative care) and child protection policy in Ireland. The 1991 Act is a wide-ranging piece of legislation, which, at its core, seeks to promote the welfare of children who may not be receiving adequate care and protection.
The Act covers the following main areas:
1. Promotion of the welfare of children through family support, child protection and welfare interventions;
2. Emergency measures when children are at immediate risk;
3. Taking children into care through:
a. agreement (voluntary care), and
b. court orders;
4. Providing appropriate care for children in the care of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, including issues such as access arrangements and aftercare support for care leavers, and regulations made under the Act in relation to foster care, residential care and placement with relatives.
5. Regulation of early years services in Part VIIA.
In Better Outcomes Brighter Futures – The National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2014-2020 , the government of the day committed to ‘review and reform as necessary, the Child Care Act 1991.’ The review process, including extensive consultation with stakeholders, has been documented at www.gov.ie/en/publication/97d109-review-of-the-child-care-act-1991/ .
The review process has confirmed that the Child Care Act 1991 continues to serve children well, and contains much that is worth retaining. However, the child protection and welfare landscape in Ireland has changed greatly since the Act’s full commencement, in terms of both the State’s response and the nature and complexity of child protection and welfare matters. It is therefore unsurprising that there are areas that require updating to reflect these changes both in society and in the institutional structures providing child welfare and protection services, and our understanding of children’s rights, and also to allow for positive practice developments to be enshrined in law where needed.
My Department got approval from Government in July 2021 to draft Heads of a Bill to be introduced as the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023 and I intend to bring a General Scheme to Government in the coming weeks. I look forward to the publication of the Bill on my Department's website in due course.
