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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 20 May 2003

Vol. 567 No. 1

Written Answers. - Child Care Services.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Ceist:

286 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health and Children the general measures that the Government intends to put in place to implement the recommendations contained in the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of DG v Ireland. [13592/03]

I assume the Deputy is referring to the provision of appropri ate services for non-offending children in need of special care or protection, on which the DG case centred. Since 1997, additional revenue funding of approximately €178 million has been invested through the health boards in the development of child welfare and protection services. This includes an additional €8 million in 2003. This has provided for a wide range of developments including family support projects, preventive services and intensive community based services.

Approximately €40 million in capital funding has been made available by the Government, through the health boards, to put in place additional high support and special care places to provide for a small group of non-offending children who need more intensive intervention than mainstream residential or foster care services. The number of high support and special care places has increased from 17 in 1996 to a current total of over 120. This includes an additional five-place special care unit for boys which has been completed and is due to come on stream on a phased basis in the Mid-Western Health Board later this year. While health boards have experienced some difficulty in recruiting and retaining suitably trained staff for these services, progress has been made in this area through recruitment abroad and the expansion of training courses. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, a new career and pay structure for child care workers was introduced in 2001. This aims to attract more people to child care and to ensure that child care workers are trained to an appropriate level.

From time to time, health boards have put in place individual high support packages to meet children's specific needs. In addition, a number of intensive community based services has been put in place to provide for the needs of children. An example is the youth advocacy pilot projects in the Northern Area Health Board and the Western Health Board which commenced last year. Work is at an advanced stage with a view to introducing Parts 2, 3 and 11 of the Children Act 2001 later this year. These parts provide a statutory scheme for non-offending children in need of special care or protection to be placed in special care units on foot of a special care order made by the District Court in appropriate circumstances as a last resort and for as short a period of time as possible.

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