Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be here. It is a privilege to be the Minister who made mandatory reporting of child abuse a reality in this country, ending 20 years of debate across five Departments. My decision was not an easy one. There were sleepless nights before I decided to act. In truth, there were also many sleepless nights after I made my decision.There had been many predictions that services would not be able to cope and that the system would collapse. I had to balance the readiness of our front-line services to respond to mandatory reporting with my own personal view that no effort should be spared to reach, support and protect every child in danger. My decision to introduce the remaining parts of Children First from 11 December was not taken in isolation. Before giving the go ahead, my Department and I used budget negotiations to secure the biggest ever budget for Tusla. This year for the first time it will pass €750 million. This investment provides for 300 new posts within Tusla. I also listened carefully to the views of leading figures such as the Ombudsman for Children, the special rapporteur on child protection and groups such as the ISPCC and Barnardos. They not only shared the firm belief but were adamant that it was time to bring this long-running saga to an end.

Visits and discussions I had with children, young people and social and care workers right across the country helped inform my decision. As Minister, I was also briefed on the huge level of preparations made not only by own Department and Tusla, but also by teachers, gardaí, medical staff and all who interact with children on a day-to-day basis. An interdepartmental group, involving every Department, had been preparing for this moment for two years. Tusla, in advance of commencement, had to put in place the structures and processes necessary to facilitate the intake of mandated reports. In addition, online training has been prepared. I encourage Senators to take time to access this training through the Tusla website.

Taking all of these factors into account there was no doubt in my mind that we were never more ready to take this hugely important step. It could be argued that if we were not ready on 11 December then we would never be ready. I acknowledge, of course, that there were those who warned that mandatory reporting would lead to a big spike in reports and put our front-line services under pressure. However, that argument leads to the very real prospect that children in danger who have not been identified would be left outside the system with no protection and supports. As an Independent Minister, as a social justice campaigner and, I have to say, as a woman I found that prospect completely unacceptable and I rejected it. We are now six weeks into mandatory reporting and yesterday I received an update from Tusla. The figures are preliminary and I want to underline that.

However, the leadership of Tusla says that just over 1,100 mandated reports have been received. Even with the health warning that the figures are preliminary, it is clear that the anticipated spike has not yet happened. Thankfully, the negative impact on children’s services has also not materialised. Of course we cannot be complacent. I am asking my officials to provide me with constantly updated figures so that we can respond to any increases which may occur. We had those discussions with the Tusla board and senior executives yesterday afternoon. Today's debate highlights the significance rightly attached by this House to child abuse.

I will now give a brief outline of the provisions of the Children First Act 2015 before addressing in more detail those provisions relating to mandated reporting of child abuse. In order to give Senators as full a picture as possible, I will also set out how those provisions co-exist with the non-statutory provisions of the Children First guidance. The enactment of the Children First Act 2015 in November 2015 marked the achievement of a key programme for Government commitment to put elements of the child protection guidance on a statutory footing. Commencement of the Act was on a phased basis to allow the necessary preparations to be made and all of the remaining provisions of the Children First Act 2015, including those relating to mandated reporting, were fully commenced on 11 December 2017. The aim of the Act is simple. It is to improve the care and protection of children by raising awareness of child abuse and neglect. The Act represents an important addition to the child welfare and protection measures already in place and will help to ensure that child protection concerns are brought to the attention of Tusla without delay.

There are two key elements of the Act. The first relates to the obligation on providers of services to children to keep children safe from harm while availing of their services, to undertake an assessment of any potential for risk of harm to a child while that child is availing of their service, and to prepare and publish a child safeguarding statement in accordance with the Act. This statement must set out the procedures that are in place to manage any risks that have been identified. The relevant services to children that attract an obligation to produce a child safeguarding statement are set out in Schedule 1 to the Act. Senators should note that the obligation attaches to both private and public sector services.

The second key element of the Act is mandated reporting of child abuse. The Act places an obligation on defined categories of persons to report child abuse to Tusla. The list of categories of persons who are mandated persons is set out in Schedule 2 to the Act. They are, in the main, professionals working with children or certain categories of adults and include teachers, many health professionals, gardaí, owners and staff of crèches, and trained youth workers. The Act also includes a provision whereby mandated persons must, if reasonably requested to do so, assist Tusla in the assessment of a child protection risk. This assistance can take the form of verbal or written reports, attendance at meetings, or the provision of information or documents.

The Act also operates side-by-side with the existing non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. These guidelines have been in place since 1999 and were revised and published in October 2017 to include a reference to the provisions of the Act. The guidelines are aimed at all persons who come in contact with children. They set out what constitutes child abuse and neglect, how to recognise it, what constitutes a "reasonable concern" that a child is being or has been abused, and how to report the concern to Tusla.

The distinction between the guidance and the Act is that the obligation in the guidance is to report reasonable concerns, and that is a non-statutory obligation. The legal obligation to report in the Act is at a higher threshold and only applies to specific categories of persons as set out in the Act. The essential distinction between reporting a reasonable concern under the guidelines and a mandated report under the legislation, is that the threshold for a reasonable concern is that one has reasonable grounds to suspect that the child is, has been or is at the risk of being abused. The higher threshold for a mandated report is that in one's view, the abuse is of a level to seriously affect the health, development or welfare of the child. I encourage people to look at the Children First guidance which sets out in more detail the distinction between the two thresholds. There is a very clear laying out of that. One needs a discernment with that guidance in order to make those judgments. However, the aim of both the guidance and the Act is that all concerns about children are drawn to the attention of Tusla as quickly as possible, with sufficient detail to allow Tusla to assess the concerns effectively.

The Children First Act 2015 also provided for the establishment on a statutory basis of the Children First interdepartmental implementation group. As I have already stated this group, established in November 2016, includes a representative from every Department and from Tusla, the HSE and An Garda Síochána. The focus of the group to date has been on preparations for the full commencement of the Children First Act. In advance of commencement Tusla had to put in place the structures and processes necessary to facilitate the intake of mandated reports. Mandated reporters are required to make their reports in writing and have a legal entitlement to an acknowledgement. Tusla has an online portal in place for the receipt of mandated reports.

Mandated reporters can go online, via the Tusla website, register and are then in a position to submit reports directly to Tusla via the portal. I can assure Senators as well that data protection issues have been fully addressed, and that Tusla has consulted with the Data Protection Commissioner regarding fully protecting this sensitive information. The portal is an efficient and accessible way of ensuring that reports of child abuse can be generated as efficiently as possible, including all the relevant information, and can be sent without delay to Tusla.As I stated earlier, the Children First national guidance has been revised and is available on my Department's website and through the Government Publications Office. In addition, a very wide circulation of the guidance to schools, HSE settings, Garda stations and a number of other outlets has taken place in conjunction with the interdepartmental group. Tusla has prepared a number of other resources to assist persons in complying with their obligations under the legislation.

First and foremost, Tusla has made available on its website and free of charge, a 90-minute online basic Children First training module. This is an introduction to Children First and the reporting of child protection concerns. I encourage all those interested in child protection, including mandated reporters, to undertake the training.

In addition, Tusla has prepared a number of guides, which are freely available on its website as follows: A Guide for the Reporting of Child Welfare and Protection Concerns; Mandated Assisting Protocol for Tusla Staff; Guidance on Developing a Child Safeguarding Statement; Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice; and Best Practice Principles for Organisations in Developing Children First Training Programmes.

It is very important to emphasise that the Children First Act 2015 forms part of a suite of child-protection legislation including the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016. Taken together, these three pieces of legislation significantly improve the child-protection landscape.

I remind Senators it has taken two decades to reach this moment. Their interest, support and contribution to child protection are very welcome. I look forward to hearing their contributions and assure the House of my commitment to child protection and continually improving outcomes for children, in particular the most vulnerable of children, who may be the subject of reports to Tusla.