As the Deputy is aware, The Icelandic Barnahus model is a child-friendly, interdisciplinary and multi-agency model of service that brings child protection, policing, medical, therapeutic and forensic services together, under one roof, to provide services for children who experience sexual abuse and their families.
This model is being adapted to an Irish context, with my Department working in close partnership with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health in developing this significant initiative to help victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse. An Interdepartmental Group (IDG) is in place, led by my Department, with representatives from the Departments of Health and Justice, and the key service delivery agencies -Tusla , An Garda Síochána, HSE and Children's Health Ireland (CHI). A Barnahus National Agency Steering Committee (BNASC) is also in place which is independently chaired and co-ordinates and oversees development and implementation of a National Barnahus service.
A pilot service was launched in September 2019 in Galway. The service began receiving referrals in November 2020, and services are provided in a bespoke centre on the outskirts of Galway city. This allows the three agencies (Tusla, the HSE, An Garda Síochána) to provide services for children under one roof. Key professionals in child protection, health care and An Gardaí Síochána meet regularly to review cases of child sexual abuse and plan the steps that need to be taken.
My Department been awarded financial and technical support from the EU and the Council of Europe under the Technical Support Instrument, to help expand the Barnahus model in Ireland. The Joint EU-Council of Europe project, “Support the implementation of the Barnahus project in Ireland”, seeks to address the challenges faced during the implementation of the pilot in Galway and to facilitate the roll out of the Barnahus model in the East and South, adapted to an Irish context. The Joint EU-Council of Europe project has adopted the IDG as an Advisory Group to the project, this group also includes the Chair of BNASC.
An activity currently being carried out under the Joint EU-Council of Europe project is a training needs and gap analysis, which is seeking to identify the training needs for personnel working in and in collaboration with the Barnahus project in Ireland. Joint specialist interviewing training was identified as a topic for inclusion under this analysis. Recommendations will be made on foot of this analysis, which will be considered by the Advisory Group in the overall context on national implementation of the Barnahus Model. It is intended that training materials will be developed under the Joint EU-Council of Europe project before the end of 2023 with pilot training to be planned for early 2024.
More generally, and as noted in the published Inception Report of the Joint EU-Council of Europe project, a legal and policy analysis is taking place, and similarly the recommendations will be considered by the Advisory Group. Subsequent to this, a Strategy and Action Plan to scale-up Barnahus-type services will be developed, it is planned that this will commence in Q4 2023.
Oversight and accreditation of the joint specialist interviewer training for interviews carried out under Section 16(1)(b) of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992 is a matter for the Department of Justice as this training is convened by An Garda Síochána in the Garda College.
In relation to the operational integration of the joint specialist interview process, statutory and operational responsibility for the delivery of child protection and welfare services is a matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The Deputy is seeking information in relation to an operational matter for Tusla. Consequently, I have referred the matter to Tusla, and requested that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.
