We have left it rather late to drag legislation on children and the courts into the 20th century.
Just as the 1908 Children Act reflected the attitudes of the 19th century, the Children Bill 1999 will become law early in the next century and will reflect the attitudes of the last few decades of this one.
These attitudes are based on the value of working with families and children where there is a risk that the children will end up in trouble with the law. But attitudes are one thing - actions are another.
Take the raising of the age of criminal responsibility from seven years to 12. Will the health boards have the resources to call family conferences to work out action plans for children aged 7 to 12? We know that at present they find it hard enough to deal with concerns about children at risk, and social workers would say many children are left in risky situations because they haven't the resources with which to help them.
The gardai, too, will find themselves convening a great many conferences - they have been undergoing training for this for some time, the Minister says - and one wonders again if they will need extra numbers with which to do this work. It may be that they will not: a system that can send half a dozen gardai to hang around a court waiting to read out charges against one youngster should be able to spare some of these for family conferences - if the conferences keep the youngsters out of court.
Similarly, we are likely to need more probation officers, who, in creative community projects, have been diverting youngsters from crime for years and who would have done a lot more if they had been given the resources with which to replicate these projects all over the State.
This new demand on staff resources will be the major challenge faced by the new legislation. It may very well be reflected in industrial relations problems, and for that reason it is by no means certain that the Bill will be implemented as soon as it is passed.
Add the fact that the recent child abuse guidelines require the convening of regular meetings on children on at-risk registers and one can begin to see the strain which all this welcome legislation will put on the system.
The changes, by the way, are not all related to offences by children. For instance, the definition of "ill-treat" is being expanded to include frightening, bullying or threatening a child.
Padraig O'Morain can be contacted at: pomorain@irish-times.ie.