Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 24, line 20, after “1991” to insert the following:

“including a person taking care of one or more children (other than that person’s own such children) in that person’s home, but not including any such person who is a relative of the child or children or the spouse of such relative”.

The Children First Bill 2014 is one in a raft of measures designed to further child protection. I acknowledge the Minister's predecessor left the post having done much of the preparatory work and I have no doubt she will very much welcome the fact that we are seeing the Children First guidelines placed into legislation as a result of several years of pressing. Other Bills that come into this particular gamut of legislation include the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act from the same year.

The main measure of the Children First Bill 2014 requires that mandated persons report concerns they have, matters that might present or arise in the course of their roles and functions in society, to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. It also aims to improve compliance. As I said, the former and first Minister for Children and Youth Affairs sought to place the Children First guidelines into legislation.

Deputy McLellan and I, as the former spokesperson for children and youth affairs for Sinn Féin, have a concern with the section relating to mandated persons. In particular, we see a problem with the listing as it appears in Schedule 2 and the sentence which specifies that a mandated person includes: "A person carrying on a pre-school service within the meaning of Part VIIA of the Child Care Act 1991." Let us refer back to the Child Care Act 1991. It makes reference to childminders caring for four or more children, other than their own, but it exempts absolutely childminders caring for three or fewer children, other than their own. The amendment, developed by Deputy McLellan, seeks to amend the text to include explicitly all childminders caring for three or fewer children, or rather, those caring for one or more, but to exclude relatives.

I raised this in the course of Committee Stage and the Minister will remember that we had an exchange on the matter. I appeal to the Minister again in this regard. I believe it is critical that this comprehensive legislation is as holistic as it can possibly be and that all settings where children are placed, including childminder settings of whatever hue or variety, are absolutely catered to by this legislation. I do not believe it should be down to a numerical count of the number of children. If children are placed in a childminder setting other than their home, irrespective of whether there are one, two, three, four or more children, the reality is that the protections this legislation provides must apply to all and each. This is why we are pressing the amendment and I hope the Minister accedes to the proposition at this stage.

See this speech in context