Young Irish women who are travelling to the US to work as child-minders are vetted in accordance with regulations approved by the US government. Ireland has not incorporated into its laws a comparable Council of Europe agreement on au pairs, according to Ms Kathy O'Dwyer, owner/manager of Job Options Bureau of Dublin and Cork. The agreement was issued in 1979 and has become law in only four states: Denmark, Greece, Norway and Germany.
Ms O'Dwyer said that since the beginning of the case of the British teenager, Ms Louise Woodward, she had had only one potential au pair express worries, and these had been overcome. "Just because one person is in a car crash doesn't mean you should stop driving."
There has been no other fallout from the case, Ms O'Dwyer said.
She did not wish to discuss the case itself. She has been involved in "rescuing" some au pairs here. "There is always the human factor," she said.
Job Options sends some 60 to 70 young Irish women to the US each year to work as au pairs. The company is the Irish agent for the Au Pair in America programme, the largest au pair programme in the US and one approved by the US government.
Ms Woodward went to the US as part of a similar programme, the EF, also government-approved.
There is "a huge amount of rules and regulations" associated with the Au Pair in America programme. At its headquarters in Connecticut it vets the families and oversees a network of counsellors who look after the au pairs.
Job Options spends two hours with each applicant. Applicants have to be between the ages of 18 and 26, have completed the Leaving Certificate, have child-care experience outside the family, and be able to provide two references for non-family child care and one from a business person.
The applicants must have a police clearance certificate and medical certificate. This should be drafted by a doctor and contain any history of having suffered sexual or physical abuse.
Successful applicants must do one day of Red Cross first aid training. They are flown from London to New York, where they are brought to a hotel for four days of orientation.
Two flights carrying European au pairs leave London each month under the programme.
Au pairs usually spend one year in the US, and are usually between school and college. The wages are $139 per week, with a maximum of 45 hours work per week.
Since a member of the Clinton administration was found guilty of employing an illegal domestic, the demand for legal au pairs has grown sharply in the US, Ms O'Dwyer said.
The Council of Europe agreement stipulates that an au pair must be aged between 18 and 27 years, can work for a maximum of two years, must have a medical certificate, have his or her rights and duties set out, must have a private room and be given the opportunity to attend languages classes and religious services, as well as having time off.
An au pair should not work more than five hours per day.
