Dan Neville
Ceist:1215 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the statutory vetting procedures for persons wishing to work in a voluntary capacity with children. [17316/02]
Written Answers. - Child Care Services.
There is no provision for statutory vetting procedures.
I understand from my colleague Deputy McDowell, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, that as a result of a review by the Garda Commissioner, it was decided that a central vetting unit would be set up to deal with the known demand for clearances. The unit commenced operation on 2 January 2002. Since the unit commenced operating it has dealt with in the region of 40,000 vetting and data protection requests. It has also reduced the length of time taken to process vetting requests for Irish workers to within a period of three weeks.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Síochána are now in discussions seeking ways of extending the service in the child care area to cover, for example, community workers, part-time employees, etc. My Department has been informed of these discussions and will be kept up to date on developments. It is hoped to achieve some early progress in the matter.
I understand also that Part 4 of the Sex Offenders Act, 2001, obliges convicted sex offenders, which includes persons convicted abroad as well as in this jurisdiction, and before as well as after the commencement of the Act, when seeking or accepting employment or a voluntary position involving unsupervised access to children, to inform their prospective employer of the fact of the conviction. Failure to do so is an offence attracting a maximum penalty, when convicted, of a fine not exceeding €12,697 and/or imprisonment for up to five years. This new offence, which came into operation on 27 Sep tember 2001, along with the rest of the Act, is designed to act as a deterrent to unsuitable persons from seeking to gain access to children through the workplace, where relationships based on trust or fear can develop.
It is worth stressing that, irrespective of whatever clearance arrangements are in place, it will continue to be necessary to bear in mind that criminal record checks, while being capable in appropriate circumstances of making a significant contribution to ensuring that unsuitable persons do not secure positions of trust, are not the sole answer to ensuring applicants' suitability for jobs particularly where children or other vulnerable persons could be open to abuse.
There will continue to be a particular onus of care on employers-organisations to maintain good employment practice both during the recruitment stage e.g. good interviewing practice, checking references and, also, when it comes to ensuring adequate supervision arrangements post-recruitment. Children First National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children, published by my Department, recognises the need to support community and voluntary groups to develop best practice in their dealings with children. One of the ways this is being addressed is by the creation of the information and advice officer post in the health boards. This is a pivotal post for promoting public awareness about child protection concerns and promoting good child protection practice. Voluntary and community groups will have for the first time, a named person in each board whose responsibility is to develop good working relationships and network with all groups dealing with children in their area.
In order to support this development, a new document entitled Our Duty to Care has been published. It is based on Children First and on Northern Ireland's Our Duty To Care document and is being made available to all groups. Essentially it promotes good practice and procedures for organisations dealing with children and consists of a booklet and fact-sheets covering areas such as safe recruitment practice, developing safe management practices and policies and raising awareness of child abuse among volunteers and staff. It also provides advice on how to report concerns to the health boards.