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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 Feb 1996

Vol. 461 No. 4

Adjournment Debate. - Child Abuse Register.

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the important matter of the establishment of a child abuse register. Nothing illustrates the need for a child abuse register as startling as the case of the Director of Public Prosecutions v. Gerard Tiernan which was tried in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court two weeks ago. Tiernan was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for the most horrific and savage assault imaginable on his infant son Paul. The court heard that Paul Tiernan, aged five months, was admitted to Temple Street Hospital suffering from seizures, bruising and fractured ribs. He has since been taken into care. Paul Tiernan will spend the remainder of his life visually impaired and physically disabled. This tragedy is made infinitely greater by the fact that the accused, Gerard Tiernan, was imprisoned for a similar offence against another infant son in 1990. In that case, the baby suffered two broken legs and several broken ribs.

The obvious question which arises is how an individual convicted for an assault in 1990 could be allowed unsupervised access to another infant. How could the probation service and the health board have proved so ineffective in monitoring a convicted child abuser? The fact is, however, that they were ineffective and this represents a damning indictment of our system of child protection.

A committee established in 1993, following the appalling Kilkenny incest case, was chaired by Catherine McGuinness, senior counsel, who is now a distinguished judge. It was asked to advise Government on how best to protect children from sexual abuse and violence. This committee produced an excellent report which contained almost 90 recommendations. Sadly, to date only seven of them have been implemented, despite the fact that the report has been in existence for almost three years. This brings into question our determination to properly protect our children.

One of the recommendations of the Kilkenny Incest Report Committee which has not yet been implemented was the establishment of a child abuse register to include details of both young children at risk and convicted abusers. Such a register exists in most European countries. It allows the State services to monitor children at risk and actual or potential abusers. If that recommendation had been accepted and a register established, the possibility of Gerard Tiernan having unsupervised and unmonitored access to infants following his conviction would have been greatly reduced.

It must be remembered that the Tiernan case only came to light because it involved a criminal trial. One is filled with apprehension when one considers the other cases of child abuse that are normally held in-camera in the family courts. In the absence of such a register, people such as Mr. Tiernan will continue to have unsupervised access to infants with predictable consequences.

It is unacceptable that it has taken such a horrific case to put the Government on notice of the absolute and immediate necessity of establishing a child abuse register. If the Government refuses to implement this recommendation of the Kilkenny Incest Report Committee, I am prepared to give an undertaking that Fianna Fáil, on its return to office, will ensure that this glaring deficiency in our child protection system is rectified. However, if the Government does not carry out its duty in this regard, and children become the victims of abuse and violence, which could have been avoided by the establishment of a child abuse register, it will have to bear a heavy share of the burden of responsibility for what happens to those children.

Many people have correctly expressed great concern about the protection of the unborn. Surely those who are born are entitled to the fullest protection that can be afforded by the State. Young children such as Paul Tiernan are among the weakest and most vulnerable group in our society. They deserve better from us. I ask the Minister to give the House an assurance that the Government will at least provide the degree of protection which would be afforded by the establishment of a child abuse register.

There seems to be some confusion about what is meant by a child abuse register and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. It has been suggested that health boards do not keep lists or registers of children at risk. This is not the case. In accordance with the child abuse guidelines issued by my Department in 1987, health boards maintain lists of suspected and confirmed cases of child abuse. The objective of such lists is identical, in all but name, to that of child abuse registers. Their purpose is to monitor and follow-up on reported cases of children at risk and to provide data for research and planning. Such lists are reviewed annually by the Director of Community Care or a delegated officer in consultation with senior personnel from the community care teams. When families with children who are considered to be at risk change residence and move to another community care area, the information on the list is passed on to the relevant health board.

The Kilkenny Incest Investigation Report acknowledged current practice in this regard and recommended the standardisation of child abuse registers and the introduction of certain safeguards into the system. The report also recommended the mandatory reporting of all forms of child abuse by designated persons and the introduction of revised child abuse guidelines. Since these three recommendations are interrelated they fall to be considered together rather than in isolation.

The position in relation to mandatory reporting is that a discussion paper on the subject is currently being finalised and will be issued later this month as a basis for widespread discussions with the various interest groups.

As regards a revision of the child abuse guidelines issued by my Department in 1987, the Deputy is aware that the procedure introduced last year by my colleague, Deputy Currie, Minister of State at the Departments of Health. Education and Justice with special responsibility for children, for the notification of suspected cases of child abuse between the health boards and the gardaí represents a major amendment of the 1987 guidelines, in so far as the interaction between the two key players involved in child protection is concerned. It should also be noted that health boards have reviewed their own regional child protection procedures in the light of the recommendations of the Kilkenny report and have taken specific measures to improve arrangements in this area. I share the view expressed by Deputy Currie in this House last Thursday that it would be prudent to await the outcome of the forthcoming consultation process on mandatory reporting before the current guidelines are revised further since that process is likely to throw up issues which will need to be addressed in any new guidelines.

In relation to child abuse registers, I have already stated that the 1987 guidelines provide guidance on the collection, recording and exchange of information on suspected and confirmed cases of child abuse.

However, I am conscious of the need to ensure a uniform approach on the part of the health boards and of the importance of incorporating certain safeguards into the system.

It would be my intention that the recommendations in the Kilkenny report relating to the introduction of revised national child abuse guidelines and the establishment of standardised child abuse registers will be vigorously pursued as soon as the preparatory work currently under way in the Department for the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Child Care Act has been completed. By that time, I hope that a clear consensus on the mandatory reporting question will have emerged and that all of the issues that need to be addressed in revised guidelines, including those relating to child abuse registers, will have been identified.

In the meantime, I would like to assure the Deputy of the Government's commitment to putting in place a comprehensive framework for the care and protection of vulnerable children. The full implementation of the Child Care Act is central to our overall strategy in this regard; 61 of the 79 sections of the Act are now in force. These include the core provisions of Parts III, IV, V and VI which deal with the protection of children in emergencies, care proceedings and the powers and duties of health boards in relation to children in their care. The Kilkenny Incest Report underlined the need for the early introduction of these particular provisions which were brought into operation with effect from 31 October 1995, together with three sets of regulations governing the placement by health boards of children in foster care, residential care and with relatives.

In accordance with the timescale set by the Government for the full implementation of the Act, it is my intention that the remaining 18 sections of the Act, which deal with the supervision of pre-school services and the registration of children's residential centres, will be commenced by the end of the current year.

Since 1993, in the region of £30 million on an annualised basis has been invested in the development of an infrastructure to support the Act and to enable the health boards to cope with the new demands placed on them under the legislation. The Health Estimate for 1996 includes provision for a further round of new service developments in the child care area. These allocations represent the largest ever investment of resources in our child care services and demonstrate the commitment of the Government to strengthening those services and equipping them to respond to the needs of vulnerable children.

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