Guidelines on the recruitment and selection of staff in children's residential centres were issued by my Department in November 1994. Under these guidelines employers must obtain Garda clearance on all staff being considered for appointment to a children's residential centre. In September 1995 these were extended to the recruitment of staff to any area of the health services where they would have substantial access to children and vulnerable individuals including, where appropriate, external agencies funded by the health boards to provide services in respect of children and vulnerable adults. The guidelines also stress the importance of employers validating information supplied by candidates and verifying references pro-actively.
Children First: National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children recognises the need to support community and voluntary groups develop best practice in their dealings with children. A document entitled Our Duty to Care was published in April 2002. It is based on Children First and on Northern Ireland's Our Duty To Care document and is available to all groups. Essentially it promotes good practice and procedures for organisations dealing with children and consists of a booklet and factsheets 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. This is an extremely useful tool for voluntary organisations.