Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Children First Bill which is important and long-awaited legislation. The Children First guidelines were first published in 1999 and an important first step in enshrining child welfare and protection measures in law. The guidelines aimed to help in the identification and reporting of child abuse, but they did not place a statutory duty on individuals to report suspicions of abuse or harm. There were significant delays on the part of the previous Government in progressing the guidelines. In 1997 the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrats programme for Government committed to introducing mandatory reporting of child abuse. In 1998 the then Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, reaffirmed to the Dáil that mandatory reporting would be introduced during the lifetime of that Government. However, it left office in 2002 having not delivered. In June 2009, following the significant public response to the Ryan report, Fianna Fáil again committed in the Ryan report implementation plan to legislate by December 2010 to put the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing. A year later in June 2010 the then Fianna Fáil Minister of State with responsibility for Children, Mr. Barry Andrews, repeated this commitment to introduce draft legislation by end of that year. However, the December 2010 Ryan report deadline was also missed by Fianna Fáil.

I commend the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, for bringing the Bill to the House and her tireless efforts in putting the Children First guidelines on a statutory footing. The Bill does exactly what it says on the tin, namely, it puts children first. So often in the past we have heard the phrase, "Children should be seen and not heard". That is no longer acceptable. The Children First guidelines are about giving children a voice and listening to them. We all recall the harrowing accounts of abuse contained in the Ryan, Murphy and Ferns reports which detailed the abject evil inflicted on many young, innocent children by some members of the clergy and those working in State institutions. Such abuse also happened in family homes, but we will never read reports on it.

Such abuses also happened in family homes, but we will probably never read about many of them. That is why it is so important to have a mandatory reporting system in place. It would bring cases of abuse, no matter where they happened, to the attention of the authorities.

On entering office in 2011, the Government was determined to address the many outstanding issues relating to children and child protection. For the first time in the history of the State, the Taoiseach created a dedicated Department of Children and Youth Affairs and appointed a dedicated Minister with responsibility for children who sits at the Cabinet table. For many years, the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, has been to the fore in changing children's lives and looking after their priorities. Although the Children First legislation began its journey in 1999, it has taken a Fine Gael Minister to strengthen the provisions of the Children First guidelines and bring the Bill to the floor of the House. The Minister has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this area. Her professional experience in social work is a great asset to her in her ministerial role. Her genuine understanding of children's welfare has been of great benefit in developing the legislation. Many years ago she played a huge part in the new St. Michael's estate and Fatima Mansions where she worked daily. She was instrumental in the success of the children's rights referendum in 2012 which changed the Constitution in order that it protected children, supported families and treated all children equally.

The Children First Bill was finally published in April this year. It is one element of a broader set of measures aimed at strengthening child protection laws. The Minister and the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, have been instrumental in bringing the legislation into focus. The purpose of the Bill is to make further and better provision for the care and protection of children, including through raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for reporting and the management of child protection concerns and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services for children. The Bill will require mandatory reporting of child abuse, ill-treatment and harm. Mandatory reporting will place a legal duty on specified persons, generally health professionals and other individuals working closely with children, to report suspected or known abuse to a relevant authority. Mandated persons include, among others, medical practitioners, registered nurses, teachers, social workers, gardaí, members of the clergy, preschool child care staff and child protection officers of religious, sports, cultural, recreational and educational organisations offering services to children. In the past there was always a duty to report and people knew they should report, but there was no obligation to do so. The Bill states information on harm to children, past, present and future, must be reported. To harm, as defined in the Bill, is to assault, ill-treat, neglect or sexually abuse a child. The Bill will require certain persons or service providers to make reports to the Child and Family Agency on children in certain circumstances; require certain persons to assist the Child and Family Agency in certain circumstances; carry out risk assessments on potential harm to children; and prepare child safeguarding statements.

In 2012 the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, of which I am a member, debated the Children First guidelines and there was a positive reaction overall to the increased focus on child protection from the relevant stakeholders who attended the hearings. However, I regret that some of the excellent suggestions contained in the submissions were not included in the final Bill. Perhaps the Minister might review some of these suggestions.

It is welcome that the Bill requires organisations providing services for children to keep them safe and produce a child safeguarding statement. The list of mandated persons includes child protection officers performing the child welfare and protection functions of religious, sports and recreational organisations offering services to children. There has, however, been some criticism that the definition of “mandated persons” is not broad enough to cover those working in organisations focused on child protection, welfare and rights services. The ISPCC is an example. This issue needs to be addressed.

There is an omission in the Bill in that local and voluntary organisations are not specifically mentioned in the list of mandated persons. We need clarification in respect of small, local organisations and need to know whether they are included in the Bill and, if not, why not? I have some concerns about the fact that it is not an offence under the Bill to fail to report suspicions of harm to children. However, I recognise that the Children First Bill forms part of a raft of legislation that includes the Withholding of Information Act and the national vetting bureau legislation, under which serious sanctions apply.

An important feature of the new child protection legislation is the creation of the Child and Family Agency. On 1 January the agency became an independent legal entity, comprising the former HSE child and family services, the Family Support Agency, the National Educational Welfare Board and a number of other child services. It represents the most comprehensive reform of child protection, early intervention and family support services ever undertaken in Ireland. It brings together for the first time social workers and staff in community-based services, educational welfare and social care services to work in partnership with voluntary and State agencies.

To quote the Minister, "We are going to move from a position where child and family welfare was barely a priority to a position where it will be the sole focus of a single dedicated State agency, with a ring-fenced budget ... and streamlined management, overseen by a single dedicated Government Department.” I welcome this. It is an important step in developing a strong framework for child protection in Ireland.

Part 4 of the Children First Bill allows for the establishment of a Children First interdepartmental implementation group on a statutory basis and the drawing up of sectoral implementation plans. The aim of the implementation group will be to promote compliance and monitor implementation of Children First by various Departments. This is another very important element of the Bill that I welcome.

With the publication of the Ryan report and other reports documenting unspeakable abuse and cruelty towards children, it became painfully clear that child abuse had been widespread in Irish society for centuries but had been hushed up, covered up, ignored and often not believed. Child abuse and neglect were happening in many communities but were hidden away and never spoken about. Children did not have a voice. It is only in the past few years that child protection cases have come into the public domain and the perpetrators of abuse have been identified and convicted. We have heard horrific accounts of child abuse and neglect and while many cases have now come to light, many more have not and will never be heard because many of the victims have passed away. This cannot be allowed to happen again. The Bill will result in increased reporting of abuse and appropriate action being taken immediately. While most of the cases that have come to light involved awful sexual and physical abuse, there are also cases of emotional and verbal abuse which are often more likely to be hidden or ignored. There are also cases of homes in which substance abuse, of the abuse of alcohol or drugs, or both, is rife and ravaging children’s lives daily. Such abuse can leave children with lifelong scars. It never leaves them. Even if they do reach out and seek help or counselling, the abuse can still be a great burden.

I acknowledge the many voluntary organisations and agencies that work with children. I have experience of working with children in a voluntary capacity in the community and greatly enjoy it. From a young age, I worked in my community and saw at first hand the effects of the trauma experienced by young children abused in the home. One could tell from the moment a child walked through the youth club door that he or she was living through hell at home, a place in which he or she should feel safe, loved and protected.

We must, therefore, recognise the genuine dedication of local people to children in their communities. For decades, volunteers throughout the country ran youth clubs, sports clubs, drama groups and so on and never looked for payment or recognition. Today, voluntarism has all but gone and, while it is still evident to some extent, people are now reluctant to become involved. Perhaps this Bill might change their minds and make them realise that the wealth of their experience is needed in a community. I simply make the point that one of the reasons for this reluctance to volunteer is the difficulty encountered in Garda vetting, an issue which needs to be examined.

I spoke about the way verbal and emotional abuse could affect young children. I had experience of this a couple of years ago with one of my own children. She was in a club where, unfortunately, the person running the club decided they would use her as a bouncing ball in order to abuse her verbally and emotionally. The abuse has not left her to this day and is very much part and parcel of the baggage she carries with her. I believe there are many children who need to be protected, whether they are in an organised organisation or a voluntary organisation. As a previous speaker said, we all want to love our children; we hope we love them and that we mind them in the right way. However, there is a section of society that does not believe children have these rights.

I would like to conclude with a quote from the late Nelson Mandela who said: "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." It is most important for all of us that, in all of our souls, we are all children and if we are not treated right, it reflects on us for the rest of our lives.

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