Vol. 532 No. 2
145 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will report on the number of secure residential places for disturbed children; the location of these centres; the health board or other agency which operates each centre; if each centre has been inspected; if each centre is registered and will he make a statement on the adequacy and standard of the provision. [7132/01]
My Department is compiling, from the health boards, the detailed information sought by the Deputy and I will be in further communication with her as soon as possible.
146 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children the action he is taking to tackle the crisis in residential child care due to severe shortages of qualified staff; his views on the difficulties of recruitment and the way in which these will be addressed; his further views on the shortage of qualified people and the way in which these might be addressed; his further views on the lack of adequate professional support for existing staff, as highlighted in the Newtown House report and the way in which this might be addressed and if he will bring forward an urgent action plan to deal with all aspects of residential care services. [7133/01]
A substantial proportion of care staff working in the residential child care area do not have recognised qualifications for residential child care. This is an issue which I am working to address. However, it should be noted that staff have a wide variety of other educational and vocational qualifications which are undoubtedly useful to them in their work with children. The qualifications include degrees in subjects such as social science, psychology and social psychology, as well as diplomas and certificates in counselling, child protection and welfare, youth and community work, sports leadership, applied social studies and a range of nursing qualifications, including general, psychiatric and mental handicap nursing.
The Expert Working Group on Various Health Professionals, established under the terms of Labour Court Recommendation 15515 recommended ‘that child care workers be accorded professional status and as a consequence recruitment of non-qualified personnel must eventually cease'. In pursuance of this, a joint committee, comprising representatives from my Department, the Health Service Employers Agency, the health services and IMPACT, has been established to deal with issues arising from the recognition of the autonomy of the child care profession, including a complete review of the training available to child care workers, with a view to the introduction of a nationally recognised professional qualification and provision of in-service training. Discussions are also taking place with colleges to develop courses which are more appropriate for work in residential care.
The current economic climate makes the recruitment of staff difficult and health boards need to be conscious of this. Indeed, some health boards have recruited staff from outside the State.
In relation to Newtown House, the centre is now closed and I have asked the chief executive officer of the East Coast Area Health Board, the body which has statutory responsibility, to take urgent action to address the findings of the report produced by the social services inspectorate. Resources have already been made available to the health board for this purpose.
I have also asked the health boards to ensure that proper support structures are put in place to support staff working in residential child care.
