Advocating and campaigning for significant improvements in Ireland’s Child Protection and Welfare systems has always been a key part of the work of the ISPCC. The last two decades has seen a plethora of scandals which have highlighted the need for more robust systems. For a number of years, progress seemed all to slow, with report after report and recommendation after recommendation but very little real action.

 

2011, despite the often crippling recession, has proved very positive in terms of Ireland’s child protection and welfare services. Many of the issues that the ISPCC has tirelessly advocated for have been at the forefront of change.

 

Referendum

What is very clear is that the Government has continued to voice its support on a Children’s Referendum. Minister for Children and Youth Affaires, Frances Fitzgerald has expressed on a number of occasions, her commitment to a Referendum and her desire to have the wording be as close as possible to the All-party agreed wording of 2010 (she was a member of this Joint committee). The wording is currently being worked on and will be reviewed by Attorney General. The Minister has stated her wish to hold the Referendum early in 2012 with some stating that it is scheduled to take place in March.

 

The ISPCC, both as members of the Saving Childhood group and individually have continued to put pressure on the Government to ensure the issue does not lose momentum.

 

The establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) was established on the 2nd June 2011 and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD. This is a full cabinet position which will facilitate the development of a seamless approach to the delivery of services to Irish children. The Department of Children leads the development of harmonised policy and quality integrated service delivery for children and young people and carries out specific functions in the social care field and drives coordinated actions across a range of sectors, including health, education, youth justice, sport, arts and culture.

 

This new Department saw a number of transfers from other Departments

This amalgamation will see key personnel working side by side to provide a joined-up Government approach to the development of policy and delivery of services for children.
 

Children First National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children

The Children First Guidance launched on the 15th July, 2011 is National Guidance that promotes the protection of children from abuse and neglect. It states what organisations need to do to keep children safe, and what different bodies, and the general public should do if they are  concerned about a child’s safety and welfare. The Guidance sets out specific protocols for HSE social workers, Gardaí and other front line staff in dealing with suspected abuse and neglect.

 

The major difference between this and Children’s First Guidelines 1999 is that the new Guidelines will be placed on a statutory footing and the legislation to support this is expected by the end of 2011. This is something that the ISPCC have been campaigning for over a number of years and it is a very welcome development. In addition, there is a more significant focus on neglect as a form of child abuse and the detrimental impact this can have. There is also recognition of the importance of interagency work with both other governmental organisations and the voluntary sector.

 

These Guidelines will be supported by a handbook that will be available to all those who work with children and families.

 

Garda Vetting

By the end of 2011, it is envisaged that the Garda Vetting Bureau Bill will be enacted. The key functions of this Bill are to place Garda Vetting on statutory footing and to allow for the sharing of soft information.

 

Garda Vetting has always been an area of great concern to the ISPCC. In 2006 we launched a campaign called, “How can we be sure they’re safe?” This campaign called on the Government to introduce a number of measures to protect children, one of these measures was to place vetting on a legislative footing and to allow for soft information to be recorded and made available within the vetting process.  Over 100,000 signatures were collected from members of the public, indicating that public attitude was very much in support of Garda Vetting. The ISPCC were invited to sit on the Garda Vetting Implementation group and have continued to highlight the gaps in this area for a number of years

The ISPCC were recently called to present their views on the proposed legislation to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on Wednesday 21^st September 2011 where we again took the opportunity to express the importance of the Vetting Bureau Bill.