EU & Child Proection with reference to the Irish Republic

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EU and Child Protection in the Irish Republic

Introduction:

Ireland is unlikely to develop as a role model for the EU in terms of child protection measures. This is basically because the Party in Power, viz, Fianna Fail, has been following a policy of 'pick and mix' leaning more towards a corporate capital model for development as a result of which the image of Ireland as a welfarist state has taken a back seat. The country’s  per capita spending on health care, schools education and child welfare measures has been one of the lowest among the EU countries and woefully less when compared with the counterpart in the UK.  For instance, the annual spending on all levels of education compared to GDP per capita decreased from 18% to 17.3% between 2001 and 2002 which is way below the EU-25 wherein the average works out to 25.1%. The fact that spending on the primary and secondary education is particularly low speaks a lot about the lack of concern according to many in the areas of child welfare of which child protection is only one constituent. All these things are reflected in the high incidence of poverty which is among the highest in Europe. As of 2003, 21% of Irish population was receiving an income below the risk of poverty line  and this could be compared only with the situation obtaining in Greece and Slovenia within the EU (Eurostat). But what cannot be compared is the fact that the economy has been witnessing an unusual boom which is reflected in growth of the GDP.  The drastic cuts in public spending carried out by Fianna Fail with the implicit support of other parties may no longer hold water. In other words, fiscal promotional  policy might have to be retuned. As a result, Fianna Fail  has been subjected to a growing criticism by the opposition parties as Sinn Fein, Fine Gael etc of the way social care in general and child care in particular are  being handled. Fianna Fail is also seen more as a religious party than an independent national party because of its consistent attempts to secure the consensus of Catholic Church in the introduction and implementation  of any policy of significance. They all point to the eventual  possibility of the political consensus coming to an end  In a nutshell the country's entry into EU appears to be serving more the economic interests rather than the social interests.

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The current issues that has been occupying the nation with regard to child protection are:

Lowering the Age of consent:

This recommendation has been opposed on the ground that it would have potentially negative health, psychological and socio-economic out comes and hence a plea has been made to retain the current level of age at 17.

Access to Health Services:

Child Health services must be accessible without the parental consent. The professionals in the public services should have adequate guidelines to protect the children and legislative initiatives in this regard are wanted.

Child comes first:

The Fine Gail Party ...

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