Written Answers Nos. 246-255
246. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which statutory and voluntary child support services continue to have adequate resources available to them to meet their current and ongoing requirements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15219/16]
View answerThere is a wide range of child and family support services available through both the statutory and non statutory sectors. These include services provided by Government Departments, other state agencies and an extensive network of non-governmental organisations.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, allocates funding of approximately €100m to 700 voluntary organisations to provide services on its behalf. The organisations involved include large “not-for-profit” organisations, private providers and small groups.
In the area of child welfare and protection services, Tusla has the necessary structures and processes in place to ensure the provision of more responsive and integrated services to children, young people and families at risk. The Agency, in discharging its functions, places a strong emphasis on prevention, early intervention, family support, therapeutic and care interventions, all of which are key to the provision of integrated, multi-disciplinary services for vulnerable children and families.
Tusla will continue to work closely with service providers to improve services for children.
247. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which the welfare of children in State care or institutions continues to be monitored effectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15220/16]
View answerMy Department receives regular detailed reports on key performance and activity indicators of service provision, including on children in care, from the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. My officials have regular meetings on a monthly and quarterly basis with Tusla management to review the overall level of service provision, including areas in need of improvement. In addition to regular reports, Tusla also provides occasional or special topic reports, as needed, which can then be used for budget and resource planning. There is also a protocol in place that Tusla informs my Department of specific issues where risks are identified and to ensure that effective management responses are put in place.
My officials use information provided by Tusla to monitor the current status of service provision and the effect as reforms to services take place. Activity indicators allow for attention to be focussed on areas where further improvement is required. Tusla has responsibility for inspecting all private and voluntary children's residential centres and since the end of September 2015 these inspection reports are available on the Tusla website, www.tusla.ie. Tusla has internal mechanisms for quality assurance of its services, in addition to the regulatory monitoring requirements, which include regular visits by a social worker to children in care and the inspection of private and voluntary children's residential centres. In addition to the reporting arrangements with Tusla, my Department also reviews the findings of a number of independent bodies, which are made available in the inspection reports from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), who inspect all statutory children's residential centres and Special Care Units run by the State, as well as Fostering Services and Child Welfare and Protection Services in each area. My Department also receives reports on child deaths and serious incidents from the independently chaired National Review Panel, and reports from the Ombudsman for Children.
At the end of March 2016, there was a total of 6,405 children in care and of those 333 (5%) were in residential care.
248. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to what extent support remains readily available and accessible to young persons who are victims of bullying in the workplace or other areas outside of the education system; if young persons have sufficiently ready access to help with particular reference to cyber and text bullying; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15222/16]
View answerThe Action Plan On Bullying: Report of the Anti-Bullying Working Group to the Minister for Education and Skills was published in January 2013 and clearly recognised the necessity to tackle this issue in a holistic way which saw schools as pivotal, but placed the issue within a much wider social context. Cyberbullying is just one aspect of bullying, but one which, given the rapid expansion of access to technology by young people, has come much more sharply into focus. The report highlights the need for parents and young people to understand how to use modern technologies safely and to know how to protect themselves in school, at home and in their communities. There is a range of services, supported by various Departments and their agencies which can assist children and young people in coping with bullying situations.
- The parents' role is key in supporting their children who may be victims of bullying - www.webwise.ie – an initiative of the Department of Education and Skills – provides information and advice for parents and teachers about risks and how to protect children against cyber bullying.
- At community level, many of the voluntary youth services funded by my Department provide education programmes, run awareness campaigns about bullying and provide programmes for young people to give them the knowledge and skills to build supportive links and counter bullying behaviours. Specifically, my Department supports the National Youth Health Programme which is in partnership with the HSE and the National Youth Council of Ireland. The programme's aims are to provide a broad-based, flexible health promotion / education support and training service to youth organisations and to all those working with young people in out-of-school settings, and includes programmes aimed at exploring bullying and cyberbullying with young people.
- Schools are also strengthening collaboration and interaction with youth services and promote the active participation by pupils in youth focused services within their local communities.
Bullying in the workplace is a matter for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Health and Safety Authority provides guidance to employers regarding the requirement for a written Anti Bullying Policy. The HSA guidance states that the policy should be drawn up in accordance with the Health and Safety Authority's Code of Practice on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work, the Labour Relations Commission's Code of Practice Detailing Procedures for Addressing Bullying in the Workplace and the Equality Authority's Codes of Practice on Prevention of Workplace Bullying and Harassment, where harassment under the nine grounds identified in the document is the issue. The guidance states that bullying should also be referred to in the safety statement as a hazard and should state the management ethos and ensure that there is a clear procedure for managing complaints and ensuring that all staff, whether permanent or temporary, should have access to a copy. Organisations should raise awareness of the issue by inclusion in staff bulletins, training, at recruitment stage and using any other appropriate method.
With regard to cyber bulling, the Office for Internet Safety, under the Department of Justice and Equality, takes a lead responsibility for internet safety in Ireland, particularly as it relates to children. As part of its work it holds an annual Safer Internet Day, which has included a rollout of a social marketing campaign specifically targeted at young people. In 2013, the then Minister of Communications established an Internet Content Governance Advisory Group to ensure our national policy represents best practice in offering the same online protections to our citizens as those available in the offline world. The Group’s report published in May 2014 made several recommendations aimed at protecting children and young people without unduly limiting their opportunities and rights online. I hope to advance these issues in conjunction with my colleagues the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Communications as part of the Programme for Government's specific commitment in relation to ensuring that robust protections are in place to fully protect children while on line.
249. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she continues to support Kildare Youth Services; if she expects to be in a position to continue supports to the services in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15223/16]
View answerMy Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work provision to some 380,000 young people and involve approximately 1,400 youth work staff in 477 projects and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country. In 2016, funding of €51m has been provided to my Department for these schemes. In addition €2.6m in capital funding, also provided in Budget 2016, will be used to support small scale projects, including refurbishment, health and safety fit-outs and accessibility improvements in local youth services.
In 2016, an amount of €500,405 has been allocated for the projects and services under Kildare Youth Services, which operates under Youth Work Ireland. This is an increase of more than €12,000 on the 2015 allocation. My Department provides funding to Kildare Youth Services under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme in respect of six local youth projects in Athy, Naas, Leixlip, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town and a Youth Information Centre in Naas.
I, and officials of my Department, have met, and continue to meet, regularly with many voluntary organisations and groups providing services to children and young people to see how we can work together to bring about the best possible outcomes for young people, having regard to resources available to us and to ensure that the programmes and services being provided are relevant and responsive to young people’s needs. Ongoing engagement and dialogue with the youth sector organisations and with young people themselves are priorities in the development of the policies and services to support young people’s development and learning.
At local level, Youth Officers of the Education and Training Boards have an important support role on behalf of my Department, to local youth services. My Department works closely with them to address issues that arise for local services. Officials of my Department met Kildare Youth Services and have visited their Kildare Youth Service to hear about their work and their proposals, for the provision of services in County Kildare. Further investment in the provision of youth services will be considered in the context of the annual Estimates and Budgetary processes and the implementation of the National Youth Strategy 2015-2020.
250. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which rehabilitative support services continue to be made available for juvenile offenders. [15224/16]
View answerThe Children Detention Schools, based in Oberstown, Lusk, Co. Dublin, continue to deliver services focused on education and rehabilitation of all young people detained in order to address offending behaviour and to support their early re-integration into the community. The development project recently completed in Oberstown includes a new purpose-built education, training and recreation unit. This will ensure sufficient age and ability appropriate facilities to support the delivery, by Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board, of the necessary education and training services to young people in detention.
The child care model of detention delivered in Oberstown provides for a range of rehabilitative supports for each child as part of an overall programme, with a strong ethos of school attendance, education and training and an emphasis on rehabilitation. An individual management plan is put in place for each child which includes an assessment to determine the need for more specialist intervention from the Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (ACTS). This is a national service that provides clinical services to children in detention and in special care, as well as short term interventions when the child returns to the community. There are also a number of other therapeutic and education programmes delivered on the Oberstown campus which are aimed at addressing offending behaviour patterns by children.
The Deputy will also be aware that earlier community based interventions to divert young people from offending behaviour, such as the Garda Youth Diversions Projects and the Garda Diversion Programme are also in place in the community and come under the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality. I also wish to note that my Department has recently awarded a contract for a Bail Supervision Scheme for young people. The scheme is due to commence later this year in the Dublin area, and is intended to provide an option for a court to remand a child on bail but subject to intensive therapeutic supports in the community.
251. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children or young adults who have been made wards of court in the past ten years; the degree to which the process continues to provide help and support to the children in question; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15226/16]
View answerWardship is dealt with by the President of the High Court and the affairs of all Wards of Court are confidential. The Office of Wards of Court is part of the Courts Service. As this office comes within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, I will refer the Deputy's question to Minister Fitzgerald for direct reply. I understand that the purpose of Wardship is to look after the welfare and to protect the property of a person where this is considered necessary. There are two types of Wardship: one covers adults who may require the Court's protection because of mental incapacity and the second concerns children, i.e. persons under 18 years of age, who require protection for particular reasons. A child's mental capacity is not a relevant consideration in this particular area of Wardship jurisdiction.
For the information of the Deputy, the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, may be called on to provide a report under section 20 of the Child Care Act 1991, as amended, in relation to proceedings that may involve the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, the Judicial Separation and Family Reform, the Family Law Act 1995 or the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996. Tusla has previously provided data on the numbers of reports requested by the Courts under this section, and this is included in my reply to parliamentary questions 929 and 930 on Tuesday, 31 May 2016.
252. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which research has been undertaken to identify the most common causes of concern and stress among young persons in modern times; the extent to which any corrective measures can be put in place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15227/16]
View answerI am aware that there is a great deal of research in the public domain in relation to the issues raised by the Deputy.
My Department funds and oversees the ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ national longitudinal study, which collects a wide range of data across a number of key domains of children’s lives, including data relating to issues of concern and stress. The study monitors the development of almost 20,000 children. It examines the factors that contribute to or undermine the well-being of children in contemporary Irish families, and through this, contributes to the setting of effective and responsive policies relating to children and to the design of services for children and families. Information on causes of concern and stress amongst young persons is collected through a number of questions and validated scales on several aspects of the child’s socio-emotional development including behaviour, social skills and interactions with parents.
My Department has also commissioned a number of research reports which focus on the issues of mental health, feelings, mood, and socio-emotional behaviours and outcomes. Stressful events for 5 year olds include the death of a family member, moving house, serious illness of a family member and conflict between parents. The lives of 13 year olds are affected by less positive self-concepts in the areas of 'physical appearance', 'popularity' and 'intellectual/school'. It is also known that persistent economic vulnerability has negative consequences for the socio-emotional development of children.
My Department provided funding for a May 2015 report by young people entitled “Picture Your Rights – A Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from Children Living in Ireland”. Among other areas, the report focused on the topic of ‘Mind and Body – Learning to take care of ourselves.’ Within this area the spotlight issues of bullying, mental health, and stress were identified. In that regard the report noted that mental health and physical safety are the two main issues that young people are concerned about in Ireland. The report identified bullying as the number one issue that worries young people, followed closely by stress and the pressure of school and home life. Concerns were also expressed about body image and physical health.
Regarding the wellbeing of children and young people in general, I refer the Deputy to the extensive policy frameworks 'Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People (2014-2020)', and 'Healthy Ireland: A Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing (2013-2025)'. Issues of concern and stress impact on the areas of responsibility of a number of Government departments. There are various strategies and initiatives that are relevant to tackling challenges of the kind identified by young people. Examples include the Action Plan on Bullying launched by the Minister for Education and Skills; the Prevention, Partnership and Family Support Programme (2015-2018) undertaken by Tusla; Ireland’s first National Sexual Health Strategy (2015-2020), launched by the Minister for Health; ‘Connecting for Life’, the new national strategy to reduce suicide (2015-2020); Ireland’s first National Physical Activity Plan, launched in January 2016; and a new Obesity Policy and Action Plan, under development by the Department of Health.
Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures recognises the importance of good mental health to children and young people, as reflected in the national outcome that children are active and healthy with physical and mental wellbeing. The framework contains a number of commitments in the area of mental health for progression in 2016.
In relation to children in detention, the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS) is committed to a research programme on youth crime under the Youth Justice Action Plan 2014-2018. The IYJS and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, have together developed a national clinical service for children in special care and detention, known as the Assessment, Consultation and Therapy Service (ACTS), which also engages in short term interventions, when children return to their communities, to support them to re-engage with mainstream services as appropriate.
Finally, given that exam time can be a very stressful time for children, I want to acknowledge the important role played by parents and teachers in guiding children through this and other challenging periods in their lives.
253. Deputy Frank O'Rourke asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs for details of funding available, to be administered via local authorities, from the capital grant funding scheme 2016; for details of any additional funding she may be considering making available to support new and existing play and recreation facilities for children and young persons, in particular in the Kildare North area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15259/16]
View answerThe provision of play and recreation facilities is primarily a matter for Local Authorities. My Department administers a Capital Grant Funding Scheme for Play and Recreation. The Scheme was introduced in 2013 to support new and existing play and recreation facilities for children and young people. The total amount of funding available in 2016 is €250,000, with a maximum grant of €20,000 to any Local Authority.
Applications are invited for projects providing:
- New and innovative play and recreation spaces and facilities (New and innovative projects can include new facilities, equipment, designs and /or the utilisation of non-traditional play spaces);
- Refurbishment or upgrading of existing play and recreation spaces and facilities.
Funding criteria for the Scheme were developed in conjunction with the Local Area Play and Recreation Network (LAPRN), a group established in 2012 to introduce a more coordinated and interagency approach to achieving the main goals of the play and recreation policies, at both national and local level. The following criteria were required for each application:
- Play and recreation spaces and facilities must be available for use by all children and young people in the locality at times when they are free to use them i.e. outside of school hours;
- All facilities and equipment must be accessible to children and young people with additional needs;
- All facilities and equipment must be youth-friendly and safe;
- All projects funded under the scheme must provide evidence, or a commitment to providing evidence, that children and young people have been or will be consulted about the project for which funding is requested;
- All projects funded under the scheme must provide confirmation that No Smoking signage will be displayed in play spaces and facilities funded under this scheme.
Applications must also include a commitment to matched funding by the Local Authority in which the facility is located.
2016 was a very competitive year for applications under the DCYA Capital Grant Scheme for Play and Recreation. A total of 47 applications from 26 Local Authorities were received. 19 awards were made, varying in amount from €1,000 to €20,000. An application was received from Kildare County but was not successful.
254. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to provide a breakdown by county of the number of supervision orders applied for in the courts by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, since it was established in January 2014. [15298/16]
View answerA supervision order, granted by the District Court under section 19 of the Child Care Act 1991, as amended, gives Tusla the authority to visit and monitor the health and welfare of the child. It also allows the Court to give directions as to the care of the child to the parent/s or guardian(s) at the time of the making of the order or at any other time while the order is in place. Under the Act, it is limited to a period of 12 months or less, but may be renewed. A supervision order is sought where Tusla believes that, while further action is required, it is not necessary to apply to the Court for a care order.
I have asked Tusla for information on the number of applications made. I will revert to the Deputy when the reply has been received. Tusla has informed me that during 2014, there were 435 children subject to a new supervision order, and on the 31st December 2014 there were 413 children who were subject to a supervision order. The following table has broken down these two figures by Tusla administrative region and area level for your information:
|
Area |
Total no. of children subject to a NEW Supervision Order in 2014 |
Total no. of children subject to a Supervision Order on 31/12/2014 |
|
Dublin South Central |
3 |
23 |
|
Dublin South East Wicklow |
14 |
5 |
|
Dublin South West Kildare West Wicklow |
6 |
60 |
|
The Midlands |
9 |
9 |
|
DUBLIN MID LEINSTER |
32 |
97 |
|
Dublin City North |
21 |
16 |
|
Dublin North |
4 |
3 |
|
Louth Meath |
19 |
23 |
|
Cavan Monaghan |
4 |
1 |
|
DUBLIN NORTH EAST |
48 |
43 |
|
Cork |
127 |
92 |
|
Kerry |
9 |
6 |
|
Carlow Kilkenny South Tipperary |
35 |
22 |
|
Waterford Wexford |
65 |
47 |
|
SOUTH |
236 |
167 |
|
The Midwest |
51 |
55 |
|
Galway Roscommon |
34 |
26 |
|
Mayo |
12 |
4 |
|
Donegal |
8 |
8 |
|
Sligo Leitrim West Cavan |
14 |
13 |
|
WEST |
119 |
106 |
|
NATIONAL |
435 |
413 |
255. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the Bills he will reinitiate relevant to his Department from the previous Dáil Éireann; the Bills he will introduce in the coming sessions; when he will introduce each Bill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15195/16]
View answerThere are no published Bills relevant to my Department outstanding from the previous Dáil. The Government’s Legislation Programme which is due to be published shortly will include details of the Bills that are currently under preparation within my Department. The Bills in question are as follows:
1. Defence Forces (Forensic Evidence) Bill;
2. Red Cross Bill;
3. Defence (Amendment) Bill.
I do not anticipate that any of these Bills will be introduced into this House during the 2016 Summer Session.
