Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter, which is incredibly important and sensitive. I am aware of the specific issue she alluded to, and I have been in correspondence with an individual in that regard. As the Senator knows, our country has in the past failed to protect its children, and that failure weighs heavily on all of us. Abuse is not consigned to the past, though, and it is my role, in collaboration with Tusla and An Garda Síochána, to protect children where there is a clear existing threat. Tusla's role in considering historical abuse allegations is to try to establish if the person against whom an allegation has been made could currently pose a risk to children. The role of An Garda Síochána is to investigate a crime and, where appropriate, instigate a prosecution.

Let me refer to Tusla's role in protection first. The Children First Act 2015 commenced in December 2017 and it defines relevant organisations and mandated persons and what is required of them. Relevant organisations must have a child safeguarding statement. The following is the definition of some of the categories of relevant organisations covered under the 2015 Act:

1. Any work or activity which is carried out by a person, a necessary and regular part of which consists mainly of the person having access to, or contact with, children in—

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4. Any work or activity which consists of treatment (including assessment which may lead to treatment), therapy or counselling provided to a child.

5. Any work or activity which consists of the provision of— (a) educational, research, training, cultural, recreational, leisure, social or physical activities to children,

Both of these definitions apply to St. John Ambulance. I commend the bravery and fortitude of the individuals who have come forward and shared their experiences that led to correspondence with my Department. I can only imagine how recounting their stories and reliving that difficult time in their lives must be incredibly traumatic for them. It was that bravery that led to Tusla's child safeguarding statement compliance unit engaging with St. John Ambulance Ireland. The unit has reviewed the child safeguarding statement of St. John Ambulance and is satisfied that it meets current criteria. Safeguarding statements are an important tool to clarify the potential risks to children in any organisation, and to inform the volunteers, staff and service users of the actions taken to mitigate those risks.

In order to inform my response to the Senator's specific request, I am liaising with the Departments of Justice and Equality and of Health to see if they have knowledge of any further pertinent information. Following concerns that had previously been made known to my Department, Tusla conducted a review in the region in question of available records and indicated it did not find any concerns. Today, my Department has requested Tusla to perform a similar review of St. John Ambulance in all regions of the country. This review will cover cases that may relate to the matter and any retrospective cases that have come to the attention of Tusla. On foot of findings from this review and the engagement with the Departments of Health and of Justice and Equality, all due consideration will be given to the Senator's request.

Where abuse happened in the past, Tusla and An Garda Síochána can only rely on and make assessments on the information available. I strongly urge anyone who at any time has information related to the endangerment or abuse of children, now or in the past, to immediately bring it to the attention of An Garda Síochána and Tusla. It can be extremely difficult to take such action but I say to anyone who has been the victim of abuse that they are not alone. I fully appreciate that while instances may be historic and may be in the past, the impact is felt every day by these individuals.

I thank the Senator for bringing this matter to my attention. I have outlined steps the Department is taking. We will continue to work on this.