Morning
HR/CRC/98/7
12 January 1998


Ireland this morning presented its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child stating that The Irish Government was determined not only to alleviate
the plight of children-at-risk but also to tackle the root causes of disadvantage
among children. Liz O'Donnell, Ireland’s Minister of State for Development
Assistance and Human Rights, said that the new Government had affirmed its
awareness of the impact of Government on children's lives and committed itself
to being more sensitive to children and child care issues.

Committee experts queried the delegation, among other things, on the steps
undertaken by the Government to ratify other major Conventions on child
issues; the rulings on the prevalence of international laws over domestic
legislation; and the anti-poverty strategy of the Government.

The Irish delegation also included Anne Anderson, Ireland’s Ambassador to the
United Nations Office at Geneva; John Rowan, Head of the Human Rights Unit
of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Niall Burgess, First Secretary; Cliona
Manahan-Leslie, First Secretary; Gabriel Burke, Private Secretary to the
Minister of State; Ruth Barrington, Assistant Secretary of the Department of
Health and Children; Frances Spillane, Principal Officer of the Child Care Unit;
Eamonn Corcoran from the Child Care Unit; Paul Murray, Principal Officer of
the Law Reform Division of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law
Reform; Tom Lynch, Principal Officer; John Kenny, Sentence Review; Sé
Goulding and Liam Gilroy from the Department of Education, Science and
Technology; and Patricia O'Brien and Mary Cooke from the Office of the
Attorney General.

Ireland, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is
implementing the treaty.

The Committee is made up of 10 independent human rights experts. They will
continue consideration of the report on Ireland this afternoon at 3 p.m.

Report of Ireland

The report of Ireland (document CRC/C/11/Add. 12) reviews efforts to
implement the Convention on an article-by-article basis. The report says that
Ireland is committed to achieving the maximum protection possible for the rights
of all children. In Ireland, there is a high life expectancy, a low death rate and
low infant and maternal mortality. The education system and health services are
also of a very high standard. In common with other countries, there are
problems in the areas of child abuse, homelessness and the care of juvenile
offenders.

Ireland signed the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights in
1996. The Convention is intended to supplement the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Child Care Act of 1991 marks a
movement towards recognizing the child as a separate entity with rights distinct
from the family. Studies have shown that households with children in Ireland
face a disproportionate risk of poverty. To combat this, the Government in
1994 introduced a new type of child income support and in 1995, it announced
the National Anti-Poverty Strategy.

The report lists existing or planned mechanisms at national or local level for
coordination policies relating to children and for monitoring the implementation
of the Convention. The age of majority in Ireland is 18 years or on marriage.

Presentation of Irish Report

LIZ O'DONNELL, Minister of State for Development Assistance and Human
Rights, said that in its objectives for its term of office, the new Government had
affirmed its awareness of the impact of Government on children's lives and
committed itself to being more sensitive to children and child care issues. The
key priorities listed in the programme for the Government included an early
comprehensive juvenile justice legislation and a review of all investigative,
therapeutic and prevention services including services to address child begging,
child homelessness and child prostitution.

Child welfare issues had dominated Irish policy for most of this decade, Ms.
O'DONNELL went on to state. There had been a very painful revelation in
society of child abuse cases. Regrettably in some very high profile cases, the
State had been seen to be wanting in its response. While the existence of child
abuse had never been denied, it was only in the last 6 and 7 years that the
actual extent of suffering and pain caused by child abuse had been disclosed in
the media and by way of parliamentary scrutiny.

Ms. O'DONNELL said that the State was now very well aware of the
traumatic and life-altering effects of child abuse on victims, whether the form of
abuse was physical, emotional or sexual. Citizens were scandalized and there
was a democratic clamour for reforms to prevent and respond to the abuse and
neglect of children.

Discussion

Committee experts said that the report showed that on the whole, the Irish
Government was strongly committed to the welfare and rights of children. The
country was not, however, immune to problems that had become more frequent
in the industrialized world such as domestic violence, homeless children, teenage
pregnancy and drug abuse.

Experts said that Ireland did not ratify conventions which had an impact on the
protection of children's rights like the Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Hague
Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption of 1993, and the International Convention on the
Protection of All Migrant Workers and their Families.

They asked if the Government was undertaking steps to ratify those
Conventions. They also asked if there had been any rulings on the prevalence of
international regulations over domestic legislation in matters pertaining to
children's rights.

The delegation said that the necessary legislation would be put in place soon in
order to ratify the conventions mentioned by the Committee experts. However,
the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination was delayed due to a conflict with internal legislation. The
Government was now revising its domestic law in order to comply with the
Convention.

In response to a question on how the Convention on the Rights of the Child
might be underpinned in the Irish Constitution and legal framework, the
delegation said that as an initial response, the Government had undertaken that
an All-Party Committee on the Constitution would consider a constitutional
amendment to underpin the individual rights of children. The Committee would
be giving its recommendations on the matter in the near future.

The delegation said that Ireland recognized that coordination in the development
of child policy was a key element if the Government was to safeguard children's
rights in the society. Ireland was committed to enhancing such coordination in
the context of the full implementation in Ireland of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.

The National Anti-Poverty Strategy was a national programme of action which
aimed at reducing the rate of poverty in the society, the Irish delegation said.
Political and administrative initiatives were undertaken to evaluate the situation
of persons under social exclusion. The Government considered the programme
as a major initiative which would reduce poverty by up to 50 per cent within a
short span of time. A process of evaluation, mobilization and a comprehensive
national campaign in line with anti-poverty strategy was being initiated by the
Government.

The delegation underlined that the problem of homelessness was particularly
acute in the greater Dublin area and the Minister of Health and Children recently
had announced a series of initiatives costing over 2 million Irish Pounds to
respond to that problem. It was proposed to set up two special care units in
Dublin which would cater to up to 48 children with emotional and behavioural
difficulties. They would provide urgent special care and educational facilities for
children who could only be cared for in a supervised residential setting.

Major areas of current concern included the problem of homeless children and
associated problems such as child prostitution and drug and alcohol abuse, the
delegation said. In the area of education, a key development had been the
recent publication of the Education Bill in 1997 to provide a statuary framework
within which the education system could function in a spirit of partnership with
the various parties involved.

The Irish Government was determined not only to alleviate the plight of
children-at-risk but also to tackle the root causes of disadvantage among
children, the delegation told the Committee members.

With regard to the prevalence of international laws over domestic legislation, the
delegation said legislative measures had to be taken in order to ratify
international treaties. Although conventions were not ratified by the
Government, courts regarded them as generally accepted laws.

The delegation said that an Ombudsman for Children would be appointed in the
future, but in the meantime, priority was given to the appointment of a Social
Service Inspector as a first step to evaluate the whole situation of child
well-being.