Vol. 488 No. 1
249 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the guidelines, if any, that have been published for voluntary organisations and for voluntary coaches of sporting organisations with regard to child abuse in view of the swimming inquiry. [5666/98]
A code of ethics and good practice for children's sport in Ireland, developed by a specially established expert committee under the auspices of the Department of Education, was published in June 1996. The code, which was issued to all governing bodies of sport, provides detailed guidelines for sports organisations on the proper treatment of children in sport.
The National Coaching and Training Centre, having specific regard to this code, subsequently incorporated a module on ethics in sport in their ongoing national coaching development programme, which is run in partnership with the various national governing bodies of sport in Ireland.
I propose to reconvene the expert committee to consider the need for any amendment to the code in the light of the findings of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in swimming, once the chairman's final report is available.
