• Ongoing reform agenda delivering major improvements in child protection
• Children’s Referendum to address key recommendations of Report
New Standards Led Approach to Child Protection is Central to Reform Agenda - Minister
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, is today laying before the Houses of the Oireachtas the 2011 Report of the Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon. Minister Fitzgerald welcomed the publication and thanked Dr. Shannon for his detailed and thorough report.
"This wide-reaching Report makes a series of recommendations in relation to child protection and the criminal justice system. The Report identifies a number of key areas in which the Government, and my Department, have already made substantial reforms; and a series of issues which we will be addressing in the forthcoming Children’s Referendum. The key message in this report is that we must continue to implement our ongoing reform agenda for children and families," said Minister Fitzgerald is response to the publication of the Report.
The report, which exceeds 200 pages, makes 47 recommendations ranging from the need for constitutional reform to the need for service reform. The Report makes detailed recommendations in relation to the Government’s ongoing legislative programme, specifically in the areas of Garda vetting, putting Children First on a statutory footing and the withholding of information in relation to offences against children and vulnerable adults.
Minister Fitzgerald states: "Many of the recommendations in this Report are appropriate to departments such as Health and the Department of Justice and Equality. I have brought the details of this Report to the attention of the Ministers and Ministers of State who will follow up on the recommendations contained in it in the context of our ongoing reform agenda. Minister Shatter has already delivered significant progress on legislative issues and I note that in 791 of the 925 cases appealed to the State, in accordance with the principles set out in the Zambrano Judgment, permission to remain in the State has been granted. Many of the other recommendations in this report are currently being examined in the context of preparation for Ireland's next Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
"Later this week HIQA will publish new National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children, which will set out the key features of an effective child protection service. This new standards-led approach is central to enforcing a new culture of quality, effectiveness and accountability in Ireland’s child protection system.
Children’s Referendum
Speaking in response to the Report’s call for constitutional change the Minister confirmed that a Children’s Referendum will be held later this year and stated: "we will be putting forward a proposed constitutional amendment that will protect children and their best interests, allow for their voices to be heard in proceedings affecting them and support families. These are key recommendations of this Report and, if accepted by the people, will make important changes to our Constitution and give added and equal protection to our children."
St Patrick’s Institution
The findings of the Report support the need for an end to the practice of sending 16 and 17 year olds to St. Patrick’s Institution, a process which the Department of Children and Youth Affairs has already begun. Today, Minister Fitzgerald confirmed that as of May 1st last the practice of sending newly remanded or sentenced 16 year old boys to St. Patrick's Institution ceased. She added:
"I am currently progressing arrangements for a complete end to the detention of all 16 and 17 year olds in St. Patrick’s Institution by April 2014. I received approval from Cabinet for a €50m construction in Oberstown and I expect this project to be completed in 2015.As per the recommendations of this Report, I have extended the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to cover those held in St. Patrick's Institution, in addition to all children in the Children Detention Schools in Oberstown."
Family Support
Family support and the need to reform services emerge as a recurring theme in this report which advocates the use of alternatives to court in child protection cases. Responding to this Minister Fitzgerald said: "I will continue to support innovative family support services, as resources permit. Last week, I announced that the Cabinet has approved the drafting of legislation to establish a new Child and Family Support Agency and for a new reality in service provision for children and families. This new Agency will represent one of the most significant shifts in child welfare in the state’s history. A commitment to inter-agency working and early intervention will be central to the Agency's approach"
Ryan Report Recommendations
The Report reiterates the need to implement Ryan Report recommendations. The Minister confirmed that she took chairmanship of the Ryan Report Implementation Group last year and stated: "As per the recommendations of this Report, I have increased the budget for 2012 and recruited 60 further social workers in the area of child protection. As this week’s latest figures indicate the filling of vacancies, which have arisen since the start of this year, has been proceeding and the total number of child and family social workers is increasing."
Mental Health Services
The Report calls for a renewed prioritisation of mental health services for children and young people. In response Minister Fitzgerald said: "The recently published Independent Child Death Review Group highlighted instances where serious psychological or behavioural difficulties went undiagnosed and untreated. We need a much more seamless interface between child protection services and child and adolescent mental health services and I will work with the new Agency and Minister Kathleen Lynch to make this happen."
Research Recommendations
Responding to the Report’s recommendations in relation to the need for detailed research to be conducted into children’s wellbeing Minister Fitzgerald said: "I recently announced an extension of funding to my Departments’ flagship project ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ and my Department is currently completing its biennial ‘State of the Nation's Children’ report. I recently announced funding of €450,000 for research projects in areas including school-readiness, sexualisation and commercialisation of children and issues affecting children in contact with juvenile justice services. The Report also makes reference to the need to ‘let children be children’. The Retail Ireland Guidelines, which I launched last month, are a key step to ending the market for overtly sexualised clothing and footwear for children under the age of twelve."