Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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390. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13939/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government has accepted the recommendation to establish a Commission of Investigation which is the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. The Report of the Scoping Inquiry made a number of further recommendations and a high level Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) has been convened to examine those recommendations and to consider the terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation.

The IDG is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Education and its membership includes high-level representation from the Department of the Taoiseach, Department of Education, Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Justice. Representatives from other Departments and agencies can also be invited to assist the work of the IDG as necessary.

This Group is considering the issues arising from the recommendations of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry and will advise on both the recommendations and the terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation. It is working in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. The Group is due to report to the Minister for Education in the coming weeks.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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391. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration is being given to holding a Commission of Investigation into historical physical abuse in schools here; if this will be included in the terms of reference, for example, of the Commission of Investigation arising from the recommendations of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13940/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 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 Scoping Inquiry’s remit was to examine historical sexual abuse, and the report describes a considerable scale of such abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders. While the report also contains accounts of physical violence, descriptions of physical assaults and a violent culture in some schools which facilitated and accompanied sexual abuse, it is clear that the primary focus of both the Scoping Inquiry and the Commission of Investigation it has recommended relate specifically to historical sexual abuse, rather than physical abuse.

The Department is keenly aware of the importance of immediate action on the issue of historical sexual abuse to survivors, as they have powerfully described in the report, and the need for the Commission to proceed as quickly as possible, on foot of the work done in the Scoping Inquiry. As such, its focus will be on historical sexual abuse.