Roderic O'Gorman

In a consultation document published yesterday, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) said it believes the 1991 Act “continues to serve children well, and contains much that is worth retaining”.

However, it has “identified a number of areas where improvements could be made to address gaps in the legislation, to bring it up to date with current best practice and to ensure that it reflects important changes such as a greater focus on children’s rights and their best interests”.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said: “The Child Care Act 1991 was a transformative piece of legislation, helping to promote the protection of children. We want to build on that, making the Act more child-centred, and taking account of recent developments like the 2015 children’s rights referendum, which gave constitutional recognition to children as individual rights holders.

“This written consultation process offers stakeholders a valuable opportunity to influence the development of this landmark piece of legislation and to ensure that it is informed by the knowledge and experience of relevant organisations and individuals.”