Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 25 May 1995

Vol. 453 No. 5

Written Answers. - Child Sexual Abuse.

Dan Wallace

Ceist:

27 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Minister for Health the number of victims of child sexual abuse who have received counselling from the State health services over the past 12 months; the number of abusers who have received rehabilitative treatment; and the precise amount of financial resources being allocated for the treatment of all those affected by child sexual abuse. [9528/95]

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Mr. Currie)

The primary focus of the health boards in the area of child abuse relates to the provision of appropriate assessment, support and therapeutic services to the unfortunate victims of such abuse.

Health boards submit to my Department annual statistics relating to child abuse. These detail the number and categories of alleged cases of such abuse reported to them and the number of cases confirmed by health board professionals following investigation. Information on the number of victims of child abuse who receive counselling from the health services is not readily available and could not be obtained without making inquiries from a wide range of professionals including social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors, nurses and other relevant staff.

In the Dublin area, units for the investigation and management of alleged cases of child abuse cases exist at Temple Street and Crumlin Children's Hospitals. Funding has been made available to both hospitals for the development of therapeutic services for children affected by sexual abuse.

Services for the management of child abuse cases in the seven health board areas outside Dublin have also been significantly developed in recent times with moneys set aside for the implementation of the Child Care Act. These services are multi-disciplinary in nature and are designed to best meet the various and complex needs of such victims. They include the provision of counselling to all victims of child abuse who require it.

There is an increasing recognition of the complementary role of the voluntary rape crisis centres in the provision of a comprehensive service to adult survivors of child sexual abuse. In February last, my Department made available funding of £907,000 to the rape crisis and sexual abuse counselling centres, which was an increase of £250,000 over the level of funding provided in 1994. Counselling services for adult victims of child sexual abuse are also available through the mental health services of the health boards.

Arising out of emerging research and work being undertaken in the area of child sexual abuse, it would appear that a significant proportion of child sexual offenders are adolescents. In response to this, services targeted at adolescent abusers are beginning to be developed.

In Dublin, the northside inter-agency project operates a programme for adolescent offenders and is comprised of staff from Temple Street Hospital, the Mater Hospital and the Eastern Health Board. I understand that, to-date, this programme has shown encouraging signs of success and it is hoped that it will prove to be an effective measure to prevent many adolescent abusers from reoffending in the future. A similar service for adolescent perpetrators of child abuse is also being developed by Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.

During 1993 and 1994, additional funding amounting to £20 million in full year terms was provided to develop a range of new child care and family support services throughout the country in preparation for the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Child Care Act, 1991. A further sum of £10 million has been set aside this year to continue the process of improving services for the care and protection of children who are being abused or who are otherwise at risk.

This funding has been allocated to the health boards under their community care programmes. Having regard to the multi-disciplinary nature of services for those affected by child sexual abuse and other froms of abuse and neglect, and the fact that such services are organised on an inter-programme basis, it is not possible to give a precise breakdown of the financial resources allocated for the treatment of persons affected by child sexual abuse.

However, I would like to assure the Deputy that a significant proportion of the funding provided for the implementation of the Child Care Act is being used to develop treatment and other services for the victims of child abuse and their families in each health area.