Ms Kate Duggan:

I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the invitation to appear before it today in relation to the possible enhancement of the child protection powers of Tusla following the recent publication of the Independent Review of the Handling of Past Complaints of Abuse in St. John Ambulance Ireland conducted by Dr. Geoffrey Shannon. I am joined here today by: Ms Patricia Finlay, regional chief officer for Dublin and mid-Leinster; Mr. Mike Corcoran, head of registration and regulatory enforcement whose responsibilities include Tusla’s child safeguarding statement compliance unit; Mr Ger Brophy, chief social worker; and Ms June Boulger from the office of the CEO.

At the outset, I acknowledge and commend the bravery of the survivors who have come forward, spoken out and shared their harrowing experiences in St. John Ambulance. The trauma they experienced when volunteering in an organisation to which their care was entrusted and in which they trusted and expected to feel safe and yet suffered is clear.

They are very much in our thoughts at this time. Dr. Shannon's report, with its comprehensive findings and recommendations, was made possible in large part due to their courage. This report has rightly raised questions about child protection practices in St. John Ambulance and the need for organisation wide change.

While Dr. Shannon's report did not make any specific findings or recommendations for Tusla, I welcome the opportunity to discuss its role in responding to retrospective allegations of abuse, the compliance of child safeguarding statements and wider child protection matters. Tusla has a broad remit across many areas relating to child protection and welfare matters. Regarding this specific case, there are two main areas in which Tusla interacted with the organisation in question, which I will outline further today.

The first relates to retrospective disclosures. Retrospective disclosures are where an adult makes a disclosure about something that happened in his or her childhood. In cases of retrospective abuse, Tusla’s statutory responsibility is to ensure there are no current or existing child protection concerns. If there is a current child protection and welfare risk, Tusla staff work with family members and other professionals to ensure a safety plan is put in place and, liaise with An Garda Síochána, as appropriate.

In relation to retrospective allegations of abuse against members of St. John Ambulance, Tusla has to date received a total of 11 referrals relating to abuses that may have occurred during the period between 1960 to the 1990s. Five of these referrals were received through the helpline set up by Tusla in recent weeks.

Our second remit relates to Children First information and advice and our child safeguarding statements. Under the Children First Act 2015, organisations classed as providers of relevant services are required to have child safeguarding statements and have a responsibility to keep children safe from harm. A child safeguarding statement is a written statement that specifies the services being provided and the principles and procedures to be observed in order to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of the service is safe from harm.

Tusla’s enforcement powers in respect of the child safeguarding statement is limited to maintaining a statutory register of services who have failed to present a safeguarding statement compliant with the requirements of the Act. Tusla also has Children First information and advice officers who are available to liaise with voluntary and community organisations and to provide advice and guidance on Children First.

In organisations that are funded by Tusla, we have a greater role and power in oversight, which I will refer to later. From 2019 to 2022, Tusla’s child safeguarding statement compliance unit engaged with St. John Ambulance and in December 2019, it was deemed to have a compliant child safeguarding statement in line with the requirements of Children First. During this period, Children First information and advice officers also worked with St. John Ambulance to assist it in developing its child protection policies and procedures.

In 2019, Tusla had information relating to three allegations of abuse against one individual, who no longer worked for the organisation. This information did not at that time suggest evidence of systemic abuse across the organisation. In 2020, following two founded outcomes of abuse against this individual, two reports of abuse by the same individual and concerns being reported to Tusla regarding the management of disclosure of allegations within the organisation, Tusla engaged with St. John Ambulance and recommended that the organisation commission an independent report to seek assurances.

While we did not have the power to direct it to undertake this investigation, we were satisfied it had taken this action and were pleased with the appointment of Dr. Geoffrey Shannon to this role. Following the publication of Dr. Shannon’s report, I invited the CEO and chair of the board of St. John Ambulance to meet me and colleagues from the Department of Children Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. During that meeting, they indicated that they accepted in full the findings and recommendations of Dr. Shannon’s report and provided a copy of their response report. This details the actions the organisation has taken and will take to implement all of the recommendations. They have agreed on a voluntary basis to provide a quarterly update to Tusla and the Department on the implementation of these actions. We also established a helpline following the publication of the report and have received a total of 12 calls to date.

As always, we continue to encourage anyone who has a concern about a child to contact their local duty social work office or, in an emergency, to contact An Garda Síochána. Our child safeguarding statement compliance unit and Children First information and advice officers also remain available to all organisations working with children that need support with a child safeguarding statement or policies and procedures relating to Children First. In addition, we are part of the Children First interdepartmental group, chaired by the Department, where all Departments and agencies meet to promote the implementation of Children First and ensure that collective responsibility for child protection and welfare is taken across Government.

The primary principle of the Children First Act is that all organisations working with children and young people are charged with responsibility for safeguarding and protecting them from harm. Where Tusla or another Department or Government agency funds an organisation, it is required to have policies and procedures in line with Children First to be eligible for funding. Funding can be suspended or ceased through the contracting agreement if we are not satisfied that they meet these requirements. If an organisation is not State funded, we do not have the powers to compel it to comply with these requirements.

We would very much welcome the opportunity to be part of a wider stakeholder engagement as part of the Children First interdepartmental group, with a variety of stakeholders including Departments, funders, service users and regulators, to explore how all organisations working with children and young people can be further supported in meeting their child protection obligations and held accountable for the implementation of child protection policies, procedures, and practices.

I will finish by once again acknowledging the courage of the survivors, and their determination to highlight the depth and breadth of the issues within St. John Ambulance.