Vol. 546 No. 3
60 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the terms of reference of the research he has commissioned into the phenomenon of children being killed by their parents; the person or group by whom the research is being carried out; when he expects to receive the results; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31588/01]
At the Select Committee on Family, Community and Social Affairs I announced that I propose to prioritise research on this theme for funding under the families research programme.
It is proposed to commission the research early in the new year under the new funding round of the families research programme. Meanwhile contacts are being made at official level with State bodies, research institutions and universities both at home and abroad to learn more about the experience of dealing with families in crisis and to gather the available research on this theme.
This information together with the views of Irish experts working in this field will help to shape the terms of reference and focus the proposed research appropriately.
My Department has been working closely with the National Children's Office which reports to my colleague, the Minister of State for Children, in progressing the research project. It is not possible at this early stage to state when the results from the research project might be available but experience with the families research programme to date would suggest that projects of significant size and scope may take up to two years to complete.
The Family Support Agency Bill which completed all stages in the Dáil two weeks ago and which is this week before Seanad Éireann provides for a key role for the proposed new agency in supporting families going through marital breakdown. The importance of access to non-adversarial remedies such as family mediation, a core function of the new agency, in disputes involving children is increasingly evident.
It is my intention to ask the Family Support Agency as one its first tasks to take the lead in exploring this issue and in coming forward to me with recommendations as to how our services can better respond to families in crisis and indeed what measures can be put in place to prevent families falling into the extreme distress which, unfortunately, we have witnessed on too many occasions in recent months.
