Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We should tease out this matter because it is easy to look at legislation and say that sanctions are missing and should be included. I would like a carefully thought-out discussion on Committee Stage, and I am sure we will have it. One should not automatically jump to the conclusion that including sanctions, other than those included, is the way forward. We could arrive at the situation where there is a higher threshold for reporting than in the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act. One must think carefully about the goal of the legislation, which is to get professionals reporting in order that we can get services to the children most at risk. I feel an obligation to introduce legislation that most effectively delivers that. Our considered view, having worked on it for a number of years and taken all the legal advice available, is that criminal sanction is not the most effective way other than as part of a suite of legislation, including the thresholds that exist in the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act and the professional sanctions that we have included. The goal is to get the reports in, not to have overly defensive reporting. The goal is to make sure the services get to the child, and with the criminal sanctions the Deputy suggests and the level of defences that would be required, we could end up with a higher threshold for reporting than is the case in this legislation. It is very well articulated in the definitions of cases that need to be reported. We will return to this point.

The registration process is in place and I will ensure the Deputy gets a reply to his parliamentary question. It is a more elongated process than what existed with notification. It has started and there are not that many new child care services opening. If Deputy Troy has examples of cases where people have been told that all they have to do is notify, he should let me know. It has been in place since 1 January.