Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 September 2012
32. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the additional resources he plans to allocate to the Family Court Service in order to deal with any increase in prosecution of child-related offences as a result of mandatory reporting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39333/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraSeveral pieces of legislation have implications in terms of mandatory reporting of child protection concerns. The Criminal Justice (Withholding of information on offences against children and vulnerable adults) Act 2012 was commenced on 1 August 2012 making it an offence for a person to fail to notify the Garda Síochána if they know or believe that a serious offence has been committed against a child or vulnerable person. Separately, my colleague the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has announced that she is preparing legislation to place the Children First Guidelines on a statutory basis. Under this proposed legislation organisations and named professionals will have statutory responsibility to report information about abuse or significant neglect to the Health Service Executive.
It is anticipated that any legal cases arising from the reporting requirements under either piece of legislation would likely impact on the criminal court rather than the family courts. It is not envisaged that the legislation will have any significant impact on the caseload of the family court system. I am conscious, however, that increases in referrals would have implications for other services concerned with child protection. The Deputy will be aware that the Government, at its meeting on 17 July 2012, approved, in principle, proposals for reforms to our courts structures which will, in due course, require the holding of a Constitutional referendum. The proposed reforms would, if approved by the People in a referendum, facilitate the establishment of a new separate Family Courts structure.
