Opening Statement by Minister Frances Fitzgerald to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health, Children Youth Affairs

Today’s meeting provides an opportunity to reflect on my work as Ministerfor Children and Youth Affairs since our last regular meeting in February.

I have of course met the committee on two occasions since to deal specifically with the 2012 Estimates and the Report of the Independent Child Death Review Group.

Children First

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of the committee for the comprehensive work carried out in holding hearings and considering the heads of the Children First Bill. I received your report last week and my Department & I are currently reviewing the report ahead of preparation of the full bill and a regulatory impact assessment.

Referendum

I would like to deal with the question of the referendum on child protection.

Officials in my Department and I are continuing a substantial engagement with the Attorney General and her officials to progress the Government’s commitment to hold a referendum on a Constitutional Amendment on Children. Contact in that regard is ongoing and, as part of normal process, will involve consultations across the relevant departments in advance of presentation of a proposed wording to Government for consideration. To ensure that the public are fully informed of the nature of the proposal, and the consequences of approving it, the proposed amending legislation in the area of adoption will be published along with the wording of the amendment.

Publication of the Referendum Bill will have regard to the need to allow an appropriate period of time for the proposal to be fully debated and considered by the public.

I have already undertaken some informal consultations and intend to continue to consult with opposition spokespersons as the preparations which are currently underway progress.

Children’s and Young People’s Framework

My Department has commenced work on a new Children’s and Young People’s Framework.

The lives of Irish children and young people have changed significantly over the past decade. This framework will reflect these changes and will seek to respond to the cutting-edge issues affecting Irish childhood and youth, from economic pressures such as child poverty and youth unemployment to health problems such as the rise in childhood obesity to cultural influences such as the impact of new technologies, media and consumerism.

This framework will provide an important opportunity for a whole-of-government approach to these issues with the ultimate goal of improving the quality-of-life and opportunities for Irish children and young people.

My Department recently engaged in an online public consultation and over 1,000 submissions were received.

Early Years Strategy

The high-level Children’s and Young People’s Framework will also facilitate the preparation of a number of more detailed strategies, including Ireland’s first ever national Early Years Strategy which will be developed during 2012.

I see this Strategy as an innovative and dynamic strategy for the future development of Ireland’s Early Years sector, which is aimed at improving the lives of children from birth to age six while harnessing the often understated potential which investment and intervention in early years offers to the future economic and social development of the state.

Last month, I hosted the first meeting of the new Expert Advisory Group which I established to advise on the preparation of the Strategy. The group comprises external experts from a range of specialties, including paediatrics, early childhood care and education, child protection and public health nursing, and is chaired by Dr. Eilis Hennessy of UCD.

Report of the Independent Child Death Review Group

The members of the Joint Committee will recall that we had a dedicated meeting to deal specifically with the Report of the Child Death Review Group at the end of June.

As I announced at that meeting,I am, following consultations with An Taoiseach, putting in place an implementation process for the Gibbons-Shannon recommendations. Many of the recommendations of the Review Group’s report echo recommendations made in previous reports and actions are already underway to implement these as part of the reform programme underway in children and family services. Where recommendations give rise to a need for new actions my Department will incorporate these within the implementation process.

My Department is currently preparing a detailed project implementation plan for children's services reform. Linked to this my Department is preparing a single database of various report recommendations over recent years in order to streamline the reporting to me on these matters. Reporting on the Gibbons-Shannon recommendations will form part of his streamlined reporting mechanism. It is my intention to bring regular progress reports on my Department's reform programme to Government and to this Committee.

New HIQA Standards on Child Protection

I wish to advise the Committee, that later this month HIQA will publish new National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children. This new standards-led approach is central to enforcing a new culture of quality, effectiveness and accountability in Ireland’s child protection services. Past failings will no longer be accepted

Child and Family Support Agency

The commitment to establish a new Child and Family Support Agency is at the heart of the Government’s reform of child and family services.

The establishment of a single Agency, underpinned by legislation and incorporating key children and family services, will provide a focus for the major reforms already underway.

This reform programme contains a number of critical elements:

  • The continued and urgent implementation of a comprehensive change programme to improve the quality and consistency of child welfare and protection services;
  • The introduction of legislation to place Children First on a statutory basis;
  • The establishment for the first time of a dedicated budget for children and family services, providing transparency and accountability for the use of resources to meet national priorities;
  • The transition of existing HSE child protection and welfare and services into the new Agency;
  • The merger of the existing Family Support Agency into the Child and Family Support Agency;
  • Consideration of the potential for further rationalisation of services for children under the new Agency.

As members will be aware, I established a Taskforce to advise on establishment of the new Agency. I met with the Task Force on 21st June for its final meeting. I expect to shortly receive the Taskforce’s final report which will propose a vision for the Agency, governance arrangements and appropriate services for inclusion in the Agency. This report will inform decisions on legislative proposals and transitional arrangements regarding the new Agency.

Extensive work is underway in my Department, in the HSE, and through the Task Force I set up last September to prepare for the establishment of the Child and Family Support Agency. The Government’s ambitious timetable will see the Agency assuming full statutory responsibility for services for children and families early in 2013.

St. Patrick’s Institution

In April, I announced,in line with the Programme for Government, thatthe practice of sending 16 year olds to St. Patrick’s Institution would end.

In May I signed a statutory instrument to end the practice of sending 16 year olds to St. Patrick’s Institution. From that date, all newly remanded or sentenced 16 year olds are being detained in the children’s detention facilities at Oberstown.

Within two years, all those under 18 who need to be detained will be sent to dedicated child-specific facilities on the Oberstown campus, for which I have received capital funding of approximately €50 million.

The detention of children in St. Patrick’s Institution, which is an adult prison, has been criticised for over 25 years by domestic and international observers as being inappropriate for the rehabilitation of children and addressing their complex needs.

The path from St. Patrick’s to Mountjoy has been too well worn down through the decades. I hope the changes I bring in will help end that cycle.

I also wish to bring to the attention of the Joint Committee that, in conjunction with my colleague Alan Shatter TD, Minister for Justice, Equalityand Defence, I have extended the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to cover St. Patrick's Institution. The Order giving effect to this change by Statutory Instrument came into effect on 1st July 2012.

Retail Guidelines

Two weeks ago I published Ireland’s first guidelines for the responsible retailing of childrenswear, to address increasing concerns over the sexualisation of childhood. These guidelines were prepared by Retail Ireland on foot of an invitation I issued to Irish fashion retailers earlier this year.

These guidelines are not just about restricting what retailers can sell, they also provide constructive guidance on best practice on a range of issues such as styling, slogans, age-appropriateness, size, labelling and marketing. I believe this code will play an important and constructive role in informing future decision-making by retailers.

I have received, particularly from parents, a very positive reaction to this initiative, since I first expressed my views as Minister on the need for action in this area.

Play and Recreation

Last week saw National Play Day being celebrated. 25 local authorities, the highest number ever, arranged events around the country.

Earlier this year, I launched a new National Play & Recreation Network, which I have established to bring together all local authorities to promote play and recreation and identify new policy initiatives.

Adoption - Vietnam

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption formally entered into force for Vietnam on 1 February 2012.

At the end of June a delegation of senior officials from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam made a week-long visit to Ireland. During a this visit, positive discussions took place between the Vietnamese officials and the Adoption Authority of Ireland leading to agreement on the contents of the final administrative arrangements for the resumption of adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam.

I invited the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, to visit in September and it is expected that the agreement setting out the administrative arrangements will be signed by both Central Authorities during his visit.

Details in relation to time frames and processes for adoptions from Vietnam should become clearer following the finalisation of the administrative arrangements by the two Central Authorities.

The Adoption Authority has approved ARC Adoption Ltd and Helping Hands Mediationa Agency as registered accredited bodies for the purposes of adoption mediation within Vietnam. Accredited agencies also require the approval of the Vietnamese authorities. During their recent visit, the Vietnamese delegation visited with both bodies accredited by the Adoption Authority to facilitate adoptions from Vietnam. The discussions the delegation held with these accredited bodies should greatly assist future interactions.

Conclusion

As the members of the Joint Committee are aware, my Department has a very full agenda. I have mentioned a few of the current issues on that agenda in my opening statement.

Thank you again for your contribution to achieving the progress made to date.

I look forward to working with you to reaching the important objectives to which we all aspire in the area of children and youth affairs.

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