Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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513. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality when a report by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection will be published; if she Minister has received the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68113/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Government appointed Ms Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection for a three-year term from 1 February 2023.

The functions of the Rapporteur are to keep under review and to audit legal developments for the protection of children; to assess the impact, if any, litigation in national and international courts will have on child protection; to prepare a report annually and to examine, upon request, the scope and application of existing or proposed legislative provisions and to make comments/recommendations as appropriate.

Upon receipt and review of the annual report, the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality submit the report to Cabinet for approval to publish, following a circulation period for review by the range of relevant Government Departments. Once approved, the report is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and then published on the Department’s website.

The Department awaits the Annual Reports in respect of the current term of Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. Officials in the Department are engaging with the Special Rapporteur on the matter of the submission of the annual reports prior to the completion of the rapporteur's term of office on the 31st of January 2026. Following receipt of the annual reports, it is intended that they will be published once the above process has been completed.