The appointment of an officer of the Northern Ireland Social Services Inspectorate to set up a similar body in the Republic is to be welcomed.
Such an inspectorate can set standards that must be met in child-care services throughout the country and can investigate breaches of these standards - the Northern Ireland body has carried out complex investigations to a high standard.
Yesterday's announcement spoke of empowering the inspectorate to evaluate the "responsiveness of services as experienced by users and carers". This is either a roundabout way of saying it will investigate breakdowns in the system - as seen, for instance, in the McColgan case - or it is a way of avoiding spelling out the extent of investigative powers the body will have.
It is vital that there be no doubt about the investigative powers of the inspectorate. The establishment of such a body should result in quick and efficient investigation of breakdowns in the child-care system. It should bring an end to doubts over who "owns" the report of an investigation - the religious order or other body running a facility, or the State. It should also bring an end to difficulties which have arisen - the Madonna House report is a lamentable example - over the publication of the report.
All this is important but it is not as important as the encouragement of good standards of practice. Not only can the inspectorate set these standards, it can also point to conditions which prevent these standards being implemented. Not least of these conditions is insufficient resources. The pinpointing by the inspectorate of the shortage of resources for child care will allow such bodies to lobby more effectively for sufficient funding.
The importance of an inspectorate is hard to exaggerate, and its work will be made all the more effective if the Minister, Mr Frank Fahey, moves to appoint an ombudsman for children. It is unfortunate that, initially at least, the inspectorate will only have functions in regard to services operated by health boards. Many child-care services are operated by independent, voluntary or religious bodies and it will be a great pity if they are not brought firmly within the scope of the inspectorate from the start.
The Department of Health and Children said yesterday that services provided by the voluntary sector will be regulated by the health board in whose functional area they are located. This, with all due respect to the many fine people who work in our health boards, is not good enough.
To say that a health board child-care facility needs to be subjected to the social-services inspectorate but that an "independent" service providing identical services to similar children and running exclusively on health board money does not, is a nonsense.
Mr Fahey, whose ability to make things happen continues to impress, also yesterday promised extra money for foster care. This is an overdue and valuable move, but it would be a great loss if residential care was to be starved of resources as a result. There will always be children who need good quality residential care for a period of time, short or long.