Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2022
556. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if legislation is in place under the Children First Act 2015 in respect of cases in which a child is being abused under the care of the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24643/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIf the Deputy has a specific concern that a child may have been, is being or is at risk of being abused or neglected, he should report this concern to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency and An Garda Síochána without delay.
The statutory bodies with primary responsibility for child welfare and protection are Tusla and An Garda Síochána. Both have distinct functions, powers and methods of working. Tusla has a statutory duty under the Child Care Act 1991 to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. In doing so, it relies heavily on individuals reporting concerns about children, in accordance with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017 and the Children First Act 2015.
The Children First Act 2015, which was fully commenced in December 2017, provides for a number of key child protection measures, including raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for mandated reporting of child protection concerns and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services to children. The Act places an obligation on providers of relevant services to keep children safe from harm, to carry out a risk assessment and to develop a Child Safeguarding Statement (CSS) that outlines the policies and procedures that are in place to manage any risks identified. A hospital, hospice, health care centre or other centre which receives, treats or otherwise provides physical or mental health services to children is a provider of relevant services for the purposes of the Children First Act.
The Act provides for mandatory reporting of child protection concerns by certain key professionals, including teachers and health care professionals. Under the Act mandated persons are required to report child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold to Tusla. Mandated persons are people who have contact with children and/or families and who, because of their qualifications, training and/or employment role, are in a key position to help protect children from harm. The list of mandated persons, is set out in Schedule 2 of the Act.
The Act operates side-by-side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017. The guidance sets out how reports about reasonable concerns of child abuse or neglect should be made by the general public and professionals to Tusla and what organisations need to do to keep children safe. These guidelines have been in place since 1999 and were fully revised and published in October 2017 to include reference to provisions of the Act.
Apart from the Children First Act 2015, a number of policy and legislative improvements have been made to child protection standards in recent years which includes the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 and the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 - 2016. The Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 which falls under the remit of the Minister for Justice, requires that any person who has information about a serious offence against a child, which may result in charges or prosecution, must report this to An Garda Síochána. Failure to report under the Act is a criminal offence under that legislation. This obligation is in addition to any obligations under the Children First Act 2015.
