Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2014
179. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the interaction her Department has had with the Department of Justice and Equality to ensure that the victims of child sexual abuse are properly protected by their legal representatives and the courts. [14276/14]
View answerMy Department has regular liaison with the Department of Justice and Equality in relation to a wide range of issues including legislation, and policy matters that arise between Departments and agencies and bodies under the Ministers respective remits.
In respect of Child Protection specifically, my Department regularly liaises with the Department of Justice and Equality through the auspices of the Children First Inter-Departmental Implementation Group. This group includes membership from key Government Departments, An Garda Síochána and the Child and Family Agency. The purpose of the Group is to promote the importance of compliance with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children across Government and to ensure consistency of approach. It is also a forum in which members may raise child protection issues of general concern, or with a cross departmental or cross-sectoral dimension if desired.
The Group is providing support to Departments and their sectors in bringing forward tailored implementation plans based on an assessment of current arrangements and activities and future developments and requirements. The Departments represented on the group have completed Children First Sectoral Implementation Plans, which were published in July 2013. The next phase of the Group’s work will focus on quality assurance mechanisms in relation to implementation and compliance in each sector, and the necessary preparations required for the forthcoming legislation putting elements of the Children First National Guidance on a statutory basis.
The Children First Bill is part of a suite of legislation which includes: the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act, 2012, and, the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. My officials have been working with officials in the Department of Justice and Equality on an ongoing basis to ensure that all three pieces of legislation interact in a complementary manner.
A number of specific issues have arisen in that context which have been a matter of discussion at both Ministerial and official level. The precise concerns of the Deputy are not clear. However, in addition to the above any cross-departmental issues arising are progressed by my officials liaising with their colleagues in other Departments bilaterally, as necessary, on a regular basis.
