Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like previous speakers, I, too, wish to congratulate the Government on the publication of the Bill. I particularly congratulate the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on bringing forward this most important Bill which proposes to insert a new stand-alone article, Article 42A, entitled "Children", into the Constitution. This will result in a question being put to the people in a referendum on 10 November. We know that the Bill will change the Constitution in order that the rights of all children will be ingrained in it. There will be a strengthening of protections for children where parents fail in their duties towards them, a removal of all inequalities in adoption between children on the basis of the marital status of their parents and a strengthening of the principles of best interests, the consideration of the views and the voice of the child in child care, adoption and family law proceedings.

I am delighted that the House is very much united in supporting the campaign for a "Yes" vote and ensuring children are protected. I congratulate the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, her Department and staff on the work they have done in making the referendum a reality.

The Bill is one of a number to be introduced by the Government to strengthen child protection. They include the Children First legislation, the Criminal Justice (Withholding Information on Crimes Against Children and Vulnerable Adults) Bill, the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill and the National Vetting Bureau Bill which will protect children and vulnerable persons.

That particular Bill is very welcome. It will make vetting compulsory for all employees or volunteers working with children or vulnerable adults. It will provide for criminal penalties to be introduced for employers who fail to undergo the vetting process.

The Government is determined to put children's welfare and rights to the forefront of the agenda. This is evident from the establishment of Department of Children and Youth Affairs, which is unprecedented in the history of this State. The upcoming referendum will strengthen children's rights under the Constitution and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill will ensure that all those who are working with children have been vetted by the Garda and do not pose any risk to young people. National standards for the welfare and protection of children have also been developed. The Minister is currently working on establishing the Child and Family Support Agency.

Garda vetting is vitally important as it ensures that those convicted of serious crimes are not offered a position where they could cause any harm to children. At present, the Garda central vetting office has access to information on convictions for criminal activity or so-called "hard" information. With the enactment of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill, the office will also have access to "soft" or relevant information, such as details about people who have undergone criminal investigation but have not been convicted. Obviously, convictions for all offences will be disclosed so that the potential employer is fully aware of a person's background and can reach an informed decision as to whether he or she is suitable for working with children or vulnerable people. At present there are a number of sectors where staff working with children and vulnerable people are not being fully checked or vetted, for example, the private elderly home care area. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, is ensuring that an adequate number of staff is employed to ensure that all vetting applications are processed in a timely fashion. In 2010 the vetting process was taking up to 12 weeks to complete. That has now been reduced to approximately three weeks, which is very welcome.

We have all heard appalling stories of abuse of children and elderly people in this country. We must do all that we can to ensure that children are protected, which is what the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is doing with the introduction of this referendum. The protection measures introduced by the Government will help to prevent further cases of elder and child abuse.

In 2006 the ISPCC launched a campaign entitled 'How can we be sure that they are safe?', which emphasised the importance of introducing vetting legislation and of making "soft" information available in the vetting process. At that time, 100,000 signatures were collected, indicating the level of public support for Garda vetting. Barnardos published statistics indicating that over 3,500 crimes against children are reported to the Garda every year. It is estimated that 12% of survivors of child sexual violence were abused by those in authority. That is why, as well as the Bill before us, other legislation is being introduced to try to ensure abuse does not take place.

As previous speakers have said, 17 major reports have been published in this area and action is long overdue. We do not want to see a repeat of the abuses that went on in the past. I commend the Government and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on the progress that has been made in this area. It is obvious that children are to the forefront of this Government's agenda. We want to learn from international best practice, do the right thing and put children at the centre of the equation. The introduction of this Bill and the referendum on 10 November will give everyone an opportunity to ensure that the dreadful abuse that happened in the past will not be repeated.

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