Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It is being prepared for circulation.

It is my intention to request the commission to verify compliance with the recommendations of the report after the necessary approaches and discussions have taken place between the HSE and the bishops at local level. I have also requested the HSE to launch a nationwide publicity and awareness campaign on child sexual abuse. The National Children's Office will assist the HSE in ensuring the campaign effectively targets and is relevant to children and young people.

I welcome the statement by the church authorities that they intend to introduce the interagency review group, as well as the current Ferns model in all areas of the country. I have requested the HSE to convene meetings of this group and to record and maintain its records in line with the inquiries' recommendations. The HSE is to report as soon as possible after initial meetings with the bishops have been held and liaison arrangements have been put in place. The Archbishop of Armagh has written to me with an undertaking to co-operate in every possible way with the recommendations of the Ferns Report.

The Government has accepted, in principle, the recommendations of the report, including a crucial recommendation on the powers of the HSE with regard to third party child sex abuse. I am supportive of the proposals contained in the report and have requested my officials to liaise with the Attorney General with a view to preparing an indepth legal study and concrete proposals on foot of the recommendations.

I have already announced a national review of compliance with the Children First guidelines by State bodies and non-governmental organisations which will be driven by the National Children's Office in partnership with all relevant Departments. The Children First guidelines were published in 1999 and, in light of recent events, it is essential the Government can stand over its own procedures for the protection of children.

A number of recommendations contained in the Ferns Report fall within the specific responsibilities of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The report recommends that the legislature should consider the introduction of a new criminal offence with regard to engaging in conduct that creates a substantive risk of bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child or failing to take reasonable steps to alleviate such a risk. The Minister will bring forward appropriate amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill to deal with this recommendation. The report recommends that legal aid, irrespective of means, be available to both complainants and priests against whom allegations are made where the cases are not determined by the criminal courts. The Minister is examining legal aid provisions with a view to giving effect to this recommendation.

The report recommends that certain documents relating to child sexual abuse should be given legal privilege. This recommendation will be examined by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in consultation with the Attorney General's Office.

The report contains a number of recommendations with regard to Garda procedures. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has forwarded a copy of the report to the Garda Commissioner, who will be considering it and taking on board its recommendations.

Responsibility for services for the care and protection of children rests with the Health Service Executive. The services available to children who are victims of sexual assault, and their parents, include professional services such as medical and nursing, social work, child and adolescent psychiatry, clinical psychology and family support services. With regard to adults who, as children, suffered abuse, the national counselling service is now well established throughout the country and is in a position to make every assistance available.

In 1998 a working group to review the child abuse guidelines was established to prepare revised guidelines aimed at improving the identification, investigation and management of child abuse. The membership of this group was wide ranging and included representatives of Departments, the Garda Síochána, the HSE, universities, trade unions, hospitals and non-governmental bodies. The revised guidelines, Children First -National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children, were published in 1999. Approximately €9.5 million has been provided for the implementation of these guidelines. The HSE has used this additional funding to create the infrastructure necessary to support full implementation of the guidelines. This has included the appointment of implementation officers, training officers, information and advice officers as well as additional social work and administrative staff.

The first Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan, was appointed by the President in December 2003. She was appointed following an innovative recruitment process involving children and young people in all aspects of the process, from job description to selection. The main functions of the Ombudsman's office are to deal with complaints by and on behalf of children and to promote the rights and welfare of young people. The Ombudsman for Children also has a function, set down in legislation, to advise any Minister on the development and co-ordination of policy relating to children.

A draft White Paper on mandatory reporting of child abuse was prepared in 2000 and was circulated to Departments. There have been significant developments since the preparation of the White Paper, for example, investment in the implementation of the Children First guidelines and child protection services generally by the HSE, appointment of advice officers in the HSE, the introduction of the Children First child protection guidelines in education, sporting and other sectors and so forth. It can be argued the Children First guidelines have, to some extent, addressed the problems which gave rise to the calls for mandatory reporting and that the Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998 has allayed fears of people of being sued.

In view of the comments and observations made and the consultations with the Attorney General's Office, it was clear there were very complex legal issues on the subject of mandatory reporting which required further consideration. The commitment by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to introduce a new criminal offence where any person "wantonly or recklessly engages in conduct that creates a substantial risk of bodily injury or sexual abuse to a child or wantonly or recklessly fails to take reasonable steps to alleviate such risk where there is a duty to act" is a very positive development. It should help to achieve an increased awareness of the personal responsibility that all people, not only professionals, have to protect children at risk.

The Ferns Report has reopened the debate on mandatory reporting. I would like to see a culture of mandatory reporting being established, but not on a legislative basis. I believe that people are now more readily prepared to report concerns around child abuse to the relevant authorities and to pursue those authorities to ensure the complaint is dealt with effectively and efficiently. I do not see the advantage of criminalising a person for keeping his or her word to an individual who does not want the complaint to be taken any further. Enough damage has already been done to such individuals without them being concerned that the person they have entrusted with this information could be the subject of criminal proceedings.

To enable the expansion of vetting services, additional human resources have been secured for the Garda central vetting unit. Specifically, sanction was obtained last year for an additional 17 staff which will increase total staffing to 30. As part of the Government's decentralisation programme, the Garda central vetting unit has recently been decentralised to Thurles, County Tipperary, from where it will expand its operations from current levels on a phased basis.

The implementation group on Garda vetting continues to progress implementation of the recommendations of the report of the working group on Garda vetting. The provision of additional staff resources will enable the Garda Síochána's vetting services to be extended to all persons working with children and vulnerable adults. This will include teachers, caretakers and others working with children. The implementation group has yet to agree the exact sequence of the phased roll-out of the expanded service but will meet again on 13 December 2005. The report of the working group has been published on the website of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The issue of vetting of people who volunteer in the education sector also has to be considered in this context. The Department of Education and Science's view is that the determining factor in deciding whether such persons should be vetted is the extent to which they have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. In consultation with the education partners, this issue will be examined closely as the Garda vetting service expands.

The working group on Garda vetting recommended the introduction of specific legislation to provide for various aspects of vetting, including the release of soft information, indemnification against disclosure, and the maintenance of a national criminal records system by the Garda Síochána. It recommended minor amendments to the Protection of Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998, to offer protection for persons reporting the abuse of vulnerable adults and not just the abuse of children and to the Sex Offenders Act 2001, to require a convicted sex offender to inform a prospective employer of a conviction when applying for a position involving unsupervised access to the physically disabled and not just children or the mentally impaired. These proposals are being considered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of Health and Children.

The working group also recommended that the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children should explore the possibility of the development of non-Garda, employment-related vetting registers to provide information on those previously dismissed, suspended, moved or made redundant from posts for harming children or vulnerable adults in the health and education sectors.

While priority is being given to the extension of the Garda vetting services, discussions on proposals for legislation to establish a non-Garda, employment-related vetting register are ongoing between the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children.

The legislation is intended to establish a non-Garda employment-related vetting register for persons considered unsafe to work with children, a framework of liaison between the relevant bodies in the health, justice and education spheres and to facilitate co-operation with the agencies responsible for the maintenance of similar registers in the United Kingdom. The register, similar to the pre-employment consultancy system, PECS, in Northern Ireland, would provide information on those previously dismissed, suspended, moved or made redundant from posts for harming children or vulnerable adults. However, as is clear from the working group's report on Garda vetting, there are complex legal issues involved in this jurisdiction, particularly with regard to the release of so-called softer information, such as allegations and complaints. Legislation which will provide appropriate safeguards to protect the rights of individuals will need to be carefully worked out, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General.

The practical recommendations of the Garda working group are being brought forward by an implementation group, chaired by the Garda Síochána and comprising representatives of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General and Mr. Paul Gilligan, chief executive officer of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Obviously, the Ferns Report has had a major effect on the country as a whole. My job and that of the Government and the Oireachtas is to protect those within our country who cannot protect themselves. This is also the job of our local communities and our entire society. In the past there have been shortcomings in the system. However, with the measures I have announced arising from the Ferns Report and the developments that have occurred under successive Governments over the past 15 years we have gone a long way to protecting our children. Nonetheless, we cannot be complacent and must continually strive to put in place better safeguards to ensure the levels of abuse outlined in the Ferns Report can never happen again. In addition, in the words of the Ferns Inquiry, it is essential that "there will be mechanisms and procedures in place which will enable victims promptly to report the abuse in the confidence that they would be believed and the certainty that appropriate action would be taken to terminate the wrongdoing". It is the duty of the Government to ensure proper child protection practices are in place and in operation. This is a key element of the objectives that must be met to ensure the shocking and appalling events described in the Ferns Report are addressed fully and, as far as is humanly possible, prevented from happening in the future.

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