A PROPOSAL to set up a statutory body similar to the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) to deal with the issue of child abuse is being prepared for presentation to the Government by Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews.He has also said that an audit by the HSE of child protection practices in Catholic dioceses and religious congregations is expected to be completed by December 22nd next.
The Minister is proposing that the Garda vetting unit, based in Thurles, be put on a statutory basis and that it have responsibility for the management of all soft and hard information relevant to allegations or suspicions of child abuse.
This envisages an agency led by the Garda, with the HSE and other relevant bodies working alongside it, which will be similar in structure to the Cab. The latter has elements from the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs working together under Garda leadership.
The exchange of soft information, which is available to authorities but where the person to whom the information relates has not been charged or convicted of a criminal offence, is an important aspect of child protection.
The Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, in co-operation with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, has begun preparing heads of a Bill on the use of soft information, in consultation with other departments, the Garda and the HSE.
At a cross-departmental level, it has been agreed that a single statutory agency should have responsibility for the management of all information, hard and soft, in this jurisdiction, on child abuse.
The proposed legislation will take account of people’s constitutional rights, including the right to equality before the law, the right to a good name, the right to privacy and the right to earn a livelihood. It will also address the right to fair procedures and the European Convention on Human Rights.
A revised edition of the State Children First guidelines is also to be published shortly. Legislation is being prepared to ensure that State employees and staff from agencies in receipt of exchequer funding who work with children will have a duty to comply with the Children First guidelines.
The Minister is also investigating with the Attorney General the statutory powers of the HSE to deal with child sexual abuse by non-family members. However, he has pointed out that following publication of the Ferns Report in 2005, the Attorney General advised that the HSE’s powers were not limited to cases of intra-family abuse.
The new assistant national director for Children and Family Services in the HSE is Phil Garland, who was praised in the Dublin diocesan report for his work on child protection with Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese.
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