Mr. Jim Gibson:

I shall refer to the eight recommendations in the letter of February. Being clear about the wording and terminology used would greatly assist us. Ultimate responsibility lies with organisations to have in place safeguarding measures that assure them that children and other young people are safe from harm. Recommendation No. 6 states clearly there should be an immediate review. We were asking Scouting Ireland to review the current arrangements across its organisation. I am referring to the service in totality and the number of dens in every county and community. We were asking the organisation to review the supervision in scouting. Second, because of the current referrals, reviews and the incidence of child-to-child inappropriate sexualised behaviour in the confines of sexual abuse, we were also asking Scouting Ireland to consider the viability of continuing with overnight trips given the concerns outlined. If one reads into that, the communication probably voices professional language within the context of how one needs to communicate with organisations. If Scouting Ireland reads into that, it again needs to look into its overnight camping trips and what safeguarding measures are in place. We would possibly have a view on that given the concerns flagged by Scouting Ireland and formal referrals to our child protection services across the country. We were saying it was for a Scouting Ireland to examine the viability.

It is also a matter of parental responsibility. If I had a son or daughter who wanted to go to Scouting Ireland, I would want to talk to the scout leader about what measures were in place that would assure me, as a parent, that I could allow him or her to go on a scouting trip.