asked the Minister for Health the total number of children at present in care in Ireland.
52.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Child Care.
51.
asked the Minister for Health the number of children at present in care who fall under the responsibility of his Department.
53.
asked the Minister for Health the number of people involved in the provision of childcare services in Ireland employed in (a) residential homes, (b) industrial schools, (c) reformatories, (d) other institutions; and the number in each category who have actually received specific training for work in child care.
54.
asked the Minister for Health the number of inspectors employed by his Department to oversee the administration of all the institutions involved in child care which fall under the jurisdiction of his Department.
55.
asked the Minister for Health the sort of uniform standards for the administration of child care facilities that have been established by his Department; and if they have been published.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 to 55, inclusive, together.
With regard to Questions Nos. 51 and 52, I presume the Deputy is referring to the total number of children in care either in residential care or boarded out. The number so involved is 2,586. Of that number, 1,965 are in the care of health boards, and of those 945 are accommodated in residential care and 1,020 are boarded out.
With regard to Questions Nos. 53 and 54 I should explain that my colleague, the Minister for Education, has responsibility for the categories of residential homes mentioned by the Deputy, apart from a small number of voluntary homes which are approved under the Health Acts as being suitable for the reception of children into residential care through the health boards. The information being sought by the Deputy in regard to these homes was contained in a reply by the Minister for Education to a related question on 28 February 1978 (Official Report, Volume 304, No. 3, columns 387-390).
I have no statutory responsibility for any of the residential homes and, accordingly, the question of the employment of inspectors by my Department to oversee the administration of the homes does not arise. However, there are very close working relationships between the homes and the health boards, and the social work adviser on child care services attached to my Department maintains regular contact with both the health boards and the homes.
The procedures for the boarding out of children by health boards are set out in the Boarding-Out of Children Regulations, 1954 (S.I. 101 of 1954). Apart from these regulations, guideline circulars are issued to health boards from time to time advising on various aspects of the child care services. In addition, the administration of those facilities is kept under constant review and discussions are now held regularly with representatives of the authorities of the homes.
Could I ask the Minister two brief questions? In the area covered by these questions and the homes in which these children are maintained, is a distinction made between children who are orphaned and children who have apparent criminal tendencies or behavioural problems? Are there cases where these children are integrated in one home? Secondly, did I understand the Minister to say there are no unqualified people, in a formal sense, working on child care in these homes?
They are children who are deemed by the health boards to be in need of residential care. That is a matter to be decided by the health boards in any particular case. The second question dealt with the——
The qualifications of the workers.
The only thing I can say about that is that we are taking steps to improve the situation in regard to the training and qualifications of the staffs concerned.
Are there cases where they would not be qualified to the Minister's satisfaction?
It depends on what the Deputy means by "qualified". They may not have formal qualifications but nevertheless they might be first-class people.
Do statistics show that numbers increased in recent years?
That is a separate question.
There is no particular variation. I should like to avail of the opportunity to mention that we are endeavouring to promote the idea of fostering as distinct from residential care.
The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.