Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I commend Deputy Shatter for bringing this motion before the House. I want to reply to the charges made earlier on the other side of the House that this motion attempts to establish a tribunal system. My understanding of the 2004 legislation, brought forward by former Deputy, Michael McDowell, is that it sought to establish a commission of investigation and to ensure most of the investigative work was done in camera and not in the public domain, involving large numbers of legal representatives on both sides. Effectively, the net issues in any terms of reference set by the House could be adjudicated upon and some conclusions brought in a speedy fashion. We have seen one example of this under the Act. The Act was of some use in the Rossiter case in terms of bringing to a conclusion some of the issues involved. I reject the notion that we are proposing a tribunal; we are proposing a new and more effective device which will bring about accountability in terms of what went so horribly wrong in the case concerned.

In the time available, I would like to deal with education and the role and responsibility of schools throughout the country in dealing with these issues. In many instances, schools are the first port of call. Our response in this area has been lacking. We are lucky to have in this country well qualified and dedicated teachers educating our young. However, if anything has been highlighted by this tragic case in County Roscommon, it is the need to ensure that every precaution is taken to protect children at every step of the process to avoid even the slightest risk of their being exposed to abuse or neglect.

It is extremely worrying that given the amount of time children spend in a school environment during the most vulnerable years of their life, many of those employed in the education system have not undergone the most basic requirement of a background check by the Garda Síochána. There are more than 55,000 teachers working with children. Also ancillary staff work in close proximity with children on a daily basis. However, vetting has only been carried out in respect of teachers and staff appointed since 2006. Those already in the system are being retrospectively vetted on a phased basis. Unfortunately, a loophole in the existing legislation, which to date has not been addressed by the Minister, allows approximately 1,000 untrained substitutes who have not been vetted to teach in our schools. The only limited vetting they receive is from the board of management of schools by whom they are employed.

The Minister suggested as far back as April 2008 that he will bring forward amending legislation to amend section 30 of the Teaching Council Act which would set limitations on a school's capacity to engage other qualified teachers. However, this will not happen for some time as there is not sufficient numbers of qualified substitutes available. Aside from the issue of vetting, a number of issues require to be addressed to ensure teachers are adequately prepared to deal with a situation of suspected abuse and to respond accordingly.

Schools are obliged to appoint a designated liaison person to report allegations of abuse to the HSE or Garda Síochána. This responsibility lies, in the main, with the principal of the school. We all know that principals are busy people. This is another job they are required to take on. Is it appropriate that principals be required to take on this additional responsibility?

The Minister may be aware that in late 2008, the INTO carried out an extensive survey across the State in respect of designated liaison persons. At that stage they reported that less than half of those designated as liaison persons in schools had received formal training. I understand the situation has improved dramatically since then but given that the guidelines have been in operation for some years, it is astonishing that one in two of the persons we charge in our schools to take responsibility for this issue had yet to receive the training that is required. It is also significant from that survey that of those who received training, some 70% found it to be inadequate and 69% believed they needed further training to be able to properly deal with the situation. Even though the training has been rolled out, there is a sense of inadequacy concerning it. That is very worrying.

The survey highlighted the very poor communication and co-ordination between the HSE and our schools. Experience on the ground, dealing with the reporting of cases of abuse suggests that support services available to the designated liaison person and schools are far from adequate. There appears to be a lack of understanding and co-ordination between the agencies involved as to the role of the school and this often amounts to very poor levels of communication. There are also cultural difficulties. We have seen a very large influx of people from other nationalities in the last few years. There are different attitudes when it comes to discipline, within families, and notable differences as between nationalities in this regard. We have not done sufficient to disseminate information between those different groups to ensure people are fully aware of their obligations as what may be termed "Irish parents" under our law, regardless of background.

Other serious criticisms were made in the INTO survey last year. Some 60% of the dedicated liaison persons surveyed suggested that the relevance and effectiveness of supports provided by the HSE was fair to poor, and 71% reported that the follow-up of feedback provided by the Executive was very poor. We need to resource and invest in our school system to ensure that where cases come to the attention of teachers, principals and boards of management, action will be taken.

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