Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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My Department and the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) continue to take the issue of potential Child Sexual Exploitation very seriously and are committed to promoting safe and high quality practice in all areas of Alternative Care, including working with An Garda Síochána as required.

As the Deputy has highlighted, officials in my Department reviewed the findings and recommendations of the Protecting Against Predators scoping study by UCD’s Sexual Exploitation Research Project (SERP) immediately following its publication. My officials and their counterparts in Tusla continue to work closely on the safeguarding framework for all children in care to ensure that it continues to be sufficiently robust to protect children from evolving risks.

Prior to the publication of the report, my Department and Tusla established a Working Group looking at institutional and organisational abuse. My Department has requested that the Group consider the report and make recommendations as required, after which I will consider any further steps as may be necessary.

The Working Group is in the process of commissioning independent research, jointly funded by my Department and Tusla, into the area of organisational and institutional abuse of children, including children placed in residential care settings. This research will review international literature and best international social work practice and child safeguarding responses in this area. It is intended that the commissioned research will also look at the findings, learnings and recommendations of seminal reports on abuse of children in residential care settings, such as the Rotherham report, and the Rochdale enquiry. The procurement process for this research was completed in January 2024 and, following a number of applications, an identified external researcher was appointed to commence the research in early February 2024.

The study sheds important light on attitudes towards potential child sexual exploitation among some professionals who work with children in care. I would like to highlight to the Deputy a number of actions taken by my Department and by Tusla both before and immediately following the publication of the study, which are relevant to the recommendations made in the study.

• I engaged with the authors of the identified report, and my officials have engaged with Tusla, to ensure that any child protection concerns outlined in the report are being followed up, including in respect of any necessary reports to An Garda Síochána.
• Tusla has liaised with An Gardaí Síochána in relation to the findings of Report.
• In 2021 Tusla implemented its Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure in partnership with An Garda Síochána. The joint working protocol between Tusla and AGS forms a critical part of the response to child abuse, neglect, and child sexual exploitation.
• All staff in residential centres for the care of children have undergone Children First training, which provides guidance for the protection and welfare of children.
• A Principal Social Worker from Tusla has been seconded to the Garda National Protective Service Bureau (GNPSB) for a number of years.
• Tusla has established an anti-trafficking working group in readiness for the Department of Justice's National Action Plan for Human Trafficking which includes the area of child sexual exploitation.
• DCEDIY is leading an inter-departmental group on the national implementation of Barnahus, which is a multi-agency approach to the provision of forensic medical intervention and therapeutic services to children subject to child sexual abuse.