Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed to the debate on this important Bill. The debate has provided an opportunity for me to set out the overall rationale to the proposed legislation and I hope this has been of assistance to Deputies in considering the approach which has been taken in the Bill following detailed policy consideration and consultation.

Many Deputies have indicated a wish to work constructively on the Bill and have made suggestions, which I will consider in the course of Committee Stage of the Bill. The Bill addresses a key recommendation in the implementation plan of the Ryan report, which was published in July 2009. It also meets the commitment in the programme for Government, which was to put Children First on a statutory basis. I am satisfied I have fully met the commitment given in regard to legislating for Children First. To imply otherwise, as some speakers did earlier, is to engage in political point scoring and obfuscation of the real purpose of the Bill. The goal is not simply to deliver on these commitments, but to improve legislation that will protect children. The goal is also to ensure the legislation supports the provision of the right information in the right way and on a timely basis so as to guide the actions of the Child and Family Agency in protecting children.

In summary, the Bill provides that organisations providing services to children must consider the potential risk to children availing of their services and demonstrate awareness and good practice in a child-safeguarding statement, which will be available to parents and the public generally. It is important parents ask to see this statement and that it is publicly available for them so they can check out any organisation providing services to children. A number of Deputies have made the point that they feel there should be consequences if organisations do not have a safeguarding statement and I will consider that.

Certain individuals who are mandated persons under the Bill will be required to report child welfare and protection concerns in accordance with the legislation to the agency. Mandated persons will also be required to report to the agency any disclosures of harm made to the mandated person by a child. The categories of mandated persons have been set out clearly in the legislation. It has been decided to focus on a small, qualified cadre of persons. This is based on evidence, including international research, which suggests that to do so improves the reporting of child welfare and protection concerns which have higher rates of substantiation. The reporting of harm to children by persons who, by virtue of their training, qualifications and professional experience, are well equipped to recognise harm is likely to have a positive effect on the process of assessment of risk by the agency. In essence, those persons who are mandated to report under the provisions of the Bill are aware of risks to children and of their responsibility in that regard. It is anticipated that reports from these persons are likely to be of a high standard, which will assist the agency in carrying out assessments of risk in an effective and efficient manner.

Some Deputies raised concerns that the Bill does not include sanctions for non-reporting of harm by mandated persons. I wish to point out that this Bill is part of a suite of legislation, including the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, wherein there is a criminal sanction for withholding information from the Garda in regard to the abuse of children. Therefore, as there is already an offence provided for in that legislation, it is not intended to create the same offence in this Bill. I wish to inform Deputies that careful consideration was given to all aspects of imposing sanctions. However, in accordance with legal advice and the overall policy objectives, we decided not to impose extra sections.

There is a clear obligation in the legislation to report abuse and I believe this will be taken seriously by mandated persons, their employers and their professional bodies and there will be consequences for those professionals who do not report. The option to report a person to the relevant fitness to practise committee of his or her regulatory body remains open to the child and family agencies. There is also a link to the national vetting legislation. Therefore, there may be implications for a person's employment if he or she is clearly seen not to have reported something they should have reported. I will work further with the interdepartmental group to examine the potential sanctions in regard to funding that could be removed from organisations in which mandated persons work who do not report. We will examine potential funding consequences where the obligations set out in the Bill have not been met.

The committee highlighted the need to include emotional abuse and this was taken on board in the published Bill. In the drafting of the Bill, I had to take into account that not all forms of abuse are as clear cut as others. This has particular relevance in the area of creating criminal offences. I wanted to ensure that when we approached this Bill, we would do so on the basis of what serves best to protect children. We should not lose this focus in pursuing the legal requirements entailed in criminal prosecutions. As I have said, these are dealt with elsewhere in other legislation.

In parallel with the legislation, promoting awareness among parents and the general public of the importance of child-safeguarding statements can create a powerful influence on service providers to deliver fully on their responsibilities in a transparent fashion. I thank all Deputies for their contributions and look forward to further discussion on Committee Stage on the Children First legislation.

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