Two prominent child protection groups have called on the Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews to publish legislation on vetting and the exchange of so-called ‘‘soft’’ information when the Dáil reconvenes next week.
The Rape Crisis Network Ireland and Youth Work Ireland said the absence of a statutory framework to allow bodies to share information regarding deviant sexual behaviour was undermining their capacity to protect children from people known to be a risk.
In a joint statement issued today, the organisations said the Ryan and Murphy reports were “forceful reminders" of how vulnerable children are to those in positions of power over them.
“At the time of their publication, we heard pronouncements from the Taoiseach and the Mr Andrews about the Government’s commitment to ensuring our child protection system and legislation were resourced and of the highest standards,” Fiona Neary from Rape Crisis Network Ireland said.
“Minister Andrew’s office has been preparing child protection legislation on vetting and ‘soft information’ for at least 17 months since he committed to the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children’s (JCCAC) recommendation for such legislation on September 11th, 2008,” she said
“At that time, the Committee was confident that this legislation would be delivered by Christmas 2008. This and all subsequent deadlines have been missed,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said a statutory basis to identify those unsuitable for working with children will be provided for in draft legislation to be brought to Government by the end of this month.
Mr Andrews expects to present the heads of a Bill to Government by the end of January, she said.
But Michael Mc Loughlin of Youth Work Ireland said yet another public commitment from this Government on this essential legislation is “no longer reassuring.”
“This Government’s public promises on child protection can only be judged to have substance when this legislation is placed before the Dáil and successfully enacted,” he said.
“Organisations with hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers want to know that they have proper information to make decisions when it comes to who works with children and young people. Clearly the State has a responsibility to facilitate such arrangements,” he added.
