Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 July 2011
598 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if additional financial resources will be established to ensure the successful implementation of the Children First legislation this autumn. [22071/11]
Amharc ar fhreagra599 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has had any discussions with her Cabinet colleagues regarding the provision of additional resources for the implementation of the Children First legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22072/11]
Amharc ar fhreagra600 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has carried out an analysis of the cost involved and the resources needed in implementing the Children First guidance on a statutory footing. [22073/11]
Amharc ar fhreagra601 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she has carried out an analysis of the cost involved in implementing mandatory reporting as part of the Children First legislation. [22074/11]
Amharc ar fhreagra602 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will be carrying out a review or any reform of social services to ensure they have sufficient resources in place to cope with the additional workload once legislation on Children First is enacted in the autumn. [22075/11]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 598 to 602, inclusive, together.
I launched the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children on 15 July, 2011. The Guidance deals with the recognition, reporting and management of child safety concerns. It sets out a number of key messages relating to the duty to protect children. Among these are that the safety and welfare of children is everyone's responsibility, that children will have safer lives where everyone is attentive to their well-being and that people who work with children across a range of areas understand their responsibility for safe practice and the reporting of concerns. The Guidance sets out specific protocols for HSE social workers, Gardaí and other front line staff in dealing with suspected abuse. The scope of Children First extends beyond the reporting of suspected abuse. It emphasises the importance of multi-disciplinary, inter-agency working in the management of such concerns. Key to this is the sharing of information between agencies and disciplines in the best interests of children and the need for full co-operation to ensure better outcomes.
I have advised my Cabinet colleagues that it is my intention to develop proposals in consultation with the Minister for Justice and Equality for a Bill to make compliance with the Children First Guidance a statutory obligation. The legislation will reflect a broad based approach to compliance with obligations extending beyond reporting to one of safeguarding children at risk and the objective will be to ensure the greater protection of children by strengthening the existing system for reporting and responding to suspected child abuse.
However the focus on compliance does not in anyway underestimate that we need capacity in our child protection services. We must also focus on appropriate management, consistency of response and the creation of a world-class Irish model of child protection.
This week I laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas the Second Progress Report on recommendations contained in the Ryan Report Implementation Plan. Putting Children First on a statutory footing was a key recommendation of the Ryan Report and went hand-in-hand with other recommendations including those focusing on resources such as the proposed recruitment of 270 additional social workers. These posts are exempt from the public service recruitment moratorium and I am happy to report that 260 of these additional social work posts will have been filled by the end of this year. These new posts will significantly strengthen the capacity of the state's child protection and family support services.
I will present the necessary Regulatory Impact Analysis for consideration by the Government together with the Heads of Bill.
