Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to the Chamber this morning.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the floor of the Seanad.

Today, I wish to speak about and call for legislation on an issue that goes right to the heart of child protection in our schools, the recognition of our special needs assistants, SNAs, as mandated persons under the Children First Act 2015.

Every day across Ireland, SNAs stand on the front line of care for our most vulnerable children, those with additional and complex needs. They are not occasional visitors in a classroom. They are a constant, trusted presence in the lives of the children they support. They help these children learn, communicate, move and participate. They are the ones who provide comfort during moments of distress, who manage personal care with dignity and compassion and who often spend more one-on-one time with a child than any one else in the school.

Because of that closeness, SNAs are often the first to notice when something is not right - a change in behaviour, a sudden withdrawal, an unexplained bruise or simply something that feels off. They are the adults that many children will go to first when they are upset or afraid. In many cases, they are the trusted bridge between the child and the wider world.

Despite this vital role, SNAs are not currently recognised as mandated persons under the Children First Act. That, in my view, is a serious gap in our child protection system. It leaves these dedicated professionals uncertain about their legal obligations, and it risks delays in identifying or reporting potential abuse or neglect. We rightly expect our schools to be places of safety and vigilance, but we cannot achieve that if those who work most closely with vulnerable children are left outside the mandated framework.

If we are serious about creating a culture of vigilance, accountability and care, every adult who has direct and sustained contact with children, especially in intimate care roles, must be both empowered and required to act when they have a concern. Recognising SNAs as mandated persons would not only strengthen the law, it would acknowledge their professionalism, their skill and the deep duty of care they already demonstrate every day in our schools. This is not about adding bureaucracy, it is about recognising reality. SNAs are already doing the work. They already protect children, they already raise concerns and they already carry that responsibility. What they need, though, and what our children deserve is the clarity, authority and respect that comes from being fully recognised within our child protection framework.

Today, I am calling on the Minister to bring forward legislation and to update the relevant Schedules of the Children First Act to ensure that special needs assistants are formally recognised as mandated persons. By doing so, we will strengthen child protection, close an unacceptable gap in our system and show SNAs in this country that the State values the vital role they play in keeping our children safe, supported, seen and heard.

Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister thanks Senator Kennelly for raising this important issue and for offering her the opportunity to respond.

The Children First Act 2015 prescribes a range of professionals as mandated reporters who must report to Tusla child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold. This provision is supported by a range of other measures for the protection of children. Under the Children First framework, the Department of education is responsible for developing and implementing child protection procedures for schools. It is important to note that the Department of education's child protection procedures for schools, which were updated earlier this year, apply to all members of school personnel. These procedures state that if any member of school personnel, including registered teachers and special needs assistants, receives an allegation or has a suspicion that a child may have been, is being or is at risk of being abused or neglected, they should report the matter without delay to the designated liaison person, DLP, in the school. The DLP is responsible for ensuring that the reporting procedures outlined in the child protection procedures for schools are followed and is the resource person for any member of school personnel with a child protection concern.

Registered teachers, as mandated persons, are required to follow additional procedures, which are also outlined in the child protection procedures for schools document. Mandated persons, such as teachers, may make a report jointly with any other person, whether that person is a mandated person or not. For example, this could arise in situations in a school where the teacher, the SNA and the principal all have concerns about the same child and wish to make a joint report to Tusla.

Notwithstanding this, we can never assume that child responsibility is the sole responsibility of a mandated person or experts. Child protection is a multi-agency, multidisciplinary activity and Children First places strong obligations on all sectors as well as members of the public to safeguard children and report concerns to Tusla. It is important to remember that any person who has a reasonable concern about a child or young person can and should report that concern directly to the Tusla social work department in the area where the child lives.

Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and welcome the statement in response from the Minister that he read out. He said the protection of our children is ultimately the priority for everyone in the school network.

We are not giving the authority to the SNAs.There is a process in the child protection procedures for schools. People go to the DLPs, the teachers and the SNAs, but it is a matter of responsibility that when the SNAs report issues like this they are recognised as mandated persons. They are not yet at this stage. I ask the Minister of State to go back and look at this again because, as I said, they are our front-line people for these children who attend school. They may not get the same attention at home and there could be something that cannot be seen or heard by teachers or other people. Only the SNAs who deal with these children every day of the week can have this brought to their attention. I would really like to have them on that list.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Senator's comments and I will convey them to the Minister on his behalf. The Minister has asked me to make some closing remarks on this.

It is important to state that robust legislative policy and practice measures are in place to promote safeguarding of children in Ireland. Government Departments promote compliance with Children First within their funded bodies. Under this legislation, all bodies providing services to children are legally required to ensure that, as far as practicable, each child availing of the service from the provider is safe from harm while availing of that service. They are also obliged to carry out risk assessments, publish child safeguarding statements and set out the principles and procedures they have in place to safeguard children.

That Act operates side by side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First, the national guidance for the protection and welfare of children. The Department is in the early stages of a review of the Children First national guidelines. The purpose of the review is to ensure that the guidance incorporates, as appropriate, the range of legislative and operational developments since its publication as well as learnings from the implementation date. In addition, consideration is being given to whether the definitions and descriptions of child abuse and at-risk children in the 2017 guidance need to be updated to take a fuller account of forms of harm to children that have gained wider recognition since the publication of the guidance, including online harms, organisational and organised abuse, peer abuse, child trafficking and sexual exploitation, and exposure to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Department of Children, Disability and Equality officials continue to work closely with Department of education officials, and indeed officials from all Departments, in the context of the Children First interdepartmental implementation group to ensure our continued effective implementation of the Act and guidance. In addition, Tusla's Children First information and advice service provides ongoing support and guidance to implementing bodies.