Seanad ReportA Seanad debate is likely to result from issues raised in The Irish Times series of articles on the Children's Court.
Describing the series as a wonderful piece of journalism, the Government leader in the House, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, said she hoped it would be possible to arrange for a debate on what appeared to be the lack of places for disturbed children of a particular age who came before the courts.
Mr Brian Hayes, Fine Gael leader in the House, said that in an excellent series of articles over the past number of weeks, Carl O'Brien had been relating to the country at large the shambles that existed in terms of helping children who were in trouble and who came into difficulty with the law through the children's courts.
"I think it's a superb piece of journalism and I congratulate him on it".
Mr Hayes urged that there be a debate on the issue of disturbed children who had found no place in terms of rehabilitation, where their parents could not deal with them and where they were a danger to themselves and to their parents.
If anything, the series by Mr O'Brien in The Irish Times had demonstrated that there was very little provision for children under the age of 18 who got into this kind of difficulty on a regular basis.
On a separate issue, Mrs O'Rourke said she would have personal reservations about using "an informer number".
She was commenting on a call by Mr Paschal Mooney (FF) for an assurance that the Garda Traffic Watch Scheme would be monitored to ensure that it was not abused.
Mr Mooney said it had been reported that the lo-call telephone service was to be rolled out nationwide.
They should get assurances from the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice that it would not be abused.
He fully accepted that the noble aspiration behind it was to reduce speeding and ultimately to save lives, but the human condition did not always subscribe to theory.
The safest roads were our motorways, but some drivers thought they owned the roads even when they were doing only 40 m.p.h. and that nobody was entitled to pass.
Were these the people who were going to clog up the telephone lines with nuisance calls motivated by begrudgery, Senator Mooney asked.
A passenger in another car had complained about him in the south-east of the country two years ago.
"Nothing came of it. I was in the right and they were in the wrong".
Mrs O'Rourke said her party colleague was concerned about possible abuse of the lo-call informer telephone numbers.
"I'd be always very doubtful about using an informer number myself".