Office of the Minister for children and youth affairs annual report 2009.

The year 2009 was a challenging one for the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) as two major reports on the systematic past abuse of children were published in the course of the year. The Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (known as the Ryan Report) was published in May. The Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin (known as the Murphy Report) was published in November. Both reports highlighted a litany of past abuses perpetrated against children. Following publication of the Ryan Report, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, TD, was tasked with producing an Implementation Plan to address each of the recommendations made in the Ryan Report. This plan was accepted by Government and published in July (OMCYA, 2009a) and in addition includes proposals considered essential to improve services to children in care, in detention and at risk. This Implementation Plan has became a major focus of the work of the OMCYA, with the Minister and his Office accepting the challenges highlighted in the Ryan and Murphy Reports as an opportunity to ensure that the lives of our most vulnerable children are protected