Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)

At a recent seminar in Trinity College, Professor Leah Bromfield, deputy director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia, warned that Ireland should think carefully about introducing mandatory reporting. In her jurisdiction, within several years the rate of reporting had risen sixfold, overwhelming the child protection system. Fearful of being prosecuted, citizens were overloading the system with reports of suspected abuse or neglect. While only an eighth of reports were confirmed as abuse, resources were swallowed up trying to cope with the reports, at the cost of less formal social work, such as family support, that could help children. Two recommendations of the Wood inquiry in Australia were to limit the legislative reporting duty to cases of suspected significant harm and to implement a greater focus on the referral of more minor cases to community-based services.

Such protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programmes to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as for other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up of instances of child maltreatment. The best way to streamline reporting of suspected child abuse is to restore confidence in the system by implementation of a sound management structure and investment in professional development, alongside measures to promote the notion of child protection as everyone's business.

This Bill and the Children First guidelines are two serious steps on the way to further ensuring the protection of children in Ireland and I am sure the Oireachtas and the people of Ireland will be support them wholeheartedly. However, I would like to urge a little caution, because there is so much at stake. It is very important that we do not destroy the family in our efforts to protect the child.

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