Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs
Governance and Child Protection Policy: Scouting Ireland
4:10 pm
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to hear that. I am very conscious of the fact that the strategy is absolutely right. The first priority needs to be the safeguarding of children. I am also conscious of the fact that if the threshold was not to be reached, it would be the children of the organisation who would be affected. If staff are put on protective notice, events will not happen and competitions will not be run. I am very glad to hear that but it is vitally important to address this.
I cannot make a statement as to the accuracy of the reports that are in the public domain. If they are true, there are worrying issues there, about which there is no doubt. I will await the report in that context.
There is no doubt in my mind of the good work that Scouting Ireland does in every part of the country. I would be very anxious to see that the funding is in place and, indeed, beyond that, increased to ensure that Scouting Ireland can deliver a strong programme and continue to do the good work that it does.