A joint working group on child protection was established by the North-South Ministerial Council and is composed of officials from my Department and the Department of Education, Northern Ireland. The group submitted its report to the Council who agreed on the broad approach taken and signalled its desire to have detailed proposals for legislation prepared. The main thrust of the proposals is to provide structures through which people who are a risk to the safety of children can be prevented from being employed in schools. Most of this information I have given earlier. The proposed legislation would comprise of the establishment of a register on a statutory basis for persons who are considered unsafe to work with children; a framework for co-operation and liaison between the relevant bodies in the health, justice and education spheres as well as between agencies in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales; and provisions relating to access to the register with due regard to child safety and the rights of individuals named.
A cross-governmental working group has been established by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to consider proposals to reform the vetting of employees by the central vetting unit run by the Garda Síochána. The group, which is chaired by a chief superintendent, has met on six occasions and is expected to report in the near future. Work by my Department on the preparation of a draft discussion paper is at an advanced stage. Its completion is dependent on the recommendations of the group to which I referred.