Vol. 574 No. 1
393 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans for extending the vetting requirement for those working with children from those in the State sector to those in the private or voluntary sector. [26456/03]
Garda clearance arrangements currently apply in respect of candidates for employment in the health services where they would have access to children and vulnerable individuals. This includes services in respect of children and vulnerable adults provided by external agencies but funded by the health boards.
My colleague the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has informed me that following a review of Garda vetting arrangements, a central vetting unit was established in January 2002 to deal with the then known demand for vetting. It was envisaged that when the central vetting unit became fully operational and all its backlogs were cleared that a phased extension of Garda clearance arrangements to other groups would take place. To this end, a working group was established to examine the issue, taking account of all aspects of the vetting of persons coming in contact with children and vulnerable persons be they full-time, part-time, voluntary or community workers or students on placement. The Department of Health and Children is participating in the working group with the Garda Siochána, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Education and Science and the Office of the Attorney General. The work of the group is ongoing.
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, for example, 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 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 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.
