Put children first

Hanging over the whole sorry debate about the new children’s hospital is the dark cloud of political fixing, central to governance in this country, writes Michael Clifford

CHILDREN First is the title of the set of guidelines for best practice child protection by the state and its agencies. The guidelines were published in 1999. Despite its title, the welfare of children has not been to the fore since. The guidelines have yet to be placed on a statutory footing.

Children First is the catch-cry of everybody who professes to have an interest in building a national children’s hospital. Yet any perusal of the commentary, debate and lobbying about the project suggests that the welfare of children is well down in the pecking order.