The Children Bill is one of the most important pieces of Irish legislation to be published this century. If passed, it will affect the lives of thousands of children over many decades, as did its predecessor, the 1908 Children Act. It represents one of a number of fundamentally important initiatives in relation to children which this Government has brought to fruition but it also represents the culmination of the work done under previous administrations, a fact not always acknowledged. Others include the recent child abuse guidelines and the establishment of an Inspectorate of Social Services.
The Bill is based on the philosophy that children do not belong in the courts, nor in prison. In keeping with this philosophy, the age of criminal responsibility is being raised from seven to 12 years. Family welfare conferences will be the vehicles through which these efforts will be organised, by health boards or, on the instructions of a court, by the Probation and Welfare Service. Parents will be invited to these conferences. It will not be a matter of "experts" taking matters into their own hands. The conference can work out what assistance and support the family needs with the child. But the success of that decision will depend not only on the family, but also on whether the health board has the resources - child care workers, home helps or counsellors - with which to help the family.
But what about victims? They have been given a status in this Bill far greater than anything we have seen before. Victims of the child's offences will be invited to conferences organised under the Garda Diversion Programme, and will be entitled to bring friends and relatives with them. The child will be cautioned in the presence of the victim. During this procedure, the child will have to confront the effects of his or her behaviour on the victim and can be invited to apologise and to make some form of reparation to the victim.
This will provide little comfort to those who favour the return of tougher sanctions. But most victims will be satisfied with being fully involved in a process which will lead to an action plan - this could include the attendance of the child at school, being at home at certain times and staying away from specified places or people - aimed at avoiding a repetition of the offence.
Much of the comment preceding the publication of this Bill concentrated on proposals to make parents responsible for the actions of their children. The Bill empowers the courts to instruct wilfully neglectful parents to undergo treatment for alcohol or other drug abuse or to participate in a parenting skills course. It also enables the courts to order the parents of a child to pay compensation for what the child has done. But the means of the parents must be taken into account. The courts can also order a parent to enter into a recognisance to exercise proper and adequate control. All this is fair enough - so long as it is recognised that many such children have parents who are at their wits' end attempting to get help to control them. It is to be hoped the final legislation will recognise this. At the end of the day, the effectiveness of this Bill will depend on the resources put into it - but it will itself create pressure to provide these resources. It is a fine piece of work both for children and victims and the sooner it is passed into law the better.