Written answers

Wednesday, 22 January 2025

Department of Education and Skills

Child Abuse

Photo of Thomas GouldThomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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566. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if redress is available for people who suffered physical and mental abuse in school; if so, the conditions of this redress; and if not, when redress will be made available. [46911/24]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department takes child protection very seriously and considers that the protection and welfare of children is a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children. Since the introduction of a revised primary school curriculum in 1970 and the total prohibition of use of corporal punishment from 1 February 1982 child protection requirements and procedures in schools have been introduced and strengthened on a number of occasions.

The Children First Act 2015 and the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017, promote the protection of children from abuse and neglect. They set out what individuals and organisations need to do to keep children safe and how to deal with concerns about a child’s safety or welfare.

Following the publication of the Children First Guidance in 2017, new Child Protection procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools, were published. The procedures are based on Children First and provide detailed direction to school management and staff on the identification of and response to child protection concerns. The procedures include reporting procedures, oversight measures and the introduction of child protection and safeguarding inspections.

In 2021 the Department engaged an independent reviewer to carry out a High-Level Independent Review of the Department of Education’s Current Child Protection Policies and Processes. The review examined the policies and processes that the Department has in place for the protection and safeguarding of children and young people. The aim of the review was to identify any existing or potential gaps, risks or areas for improvement and to make recommendations for improvements both short and long term. The procedures were updated in August 2023 and the Department is continuing to implement the recommendations contained in the report which includes the publication of updated Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools early in 2025.

The obligations and responsibilities which arise from the procedures have been taken very seriously by schools since their implementation and there is a very strong culture of child protection across the school sector.

Any concern or allegation of a child protection nature received directly by staff in the Department is dealt with in accordance with the Department’s Procedures for responding to Child Protection Concerns which come to the attention of staff employed by the Department of Education. The Department does not investigate the concerns which come to its attention and ensures that the details of any concern reported to the Department, including reports which relate to historical abuse, are immediately passed on to the relevant authorities, that is, Tusla-the Child and Family Agency, An Garda Síochána and/or the school authorities as appropriate.

The report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders indicates that a serious problem of sexual abuse appears to have existed in some schools and Government agreed that it is in the wider public interest that this be examined in more detail, which will be the objective of the Commission of Investigation.

The Department is keenly aware of the importance of action on the issue of historical sexual abuse to survivors, as they have powerfully described in the report, and the need for the Commission of Investigation to proceed as quickly as possible. A high-level Interdepartmental Group has been established to advise on the Terms of Reference for the Commission. The Group expects to report to the Minister for Education on its deliberations in the coming weeks.

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