North ‘further ahead’ on child protection

A WIDE gulf exists between child protection services north and south of the Border, a conference heard yesterday.

But a draft action plan is to be drawn up on all issues relating to child protection on a North-South basis, following talks yesterday between cross-party groups.

The talks in Dundalk were the first-ever to include delegates from Government and voluntary agencies from both the Republic and North.

The aim of the conference was to put child protection on an all-Ireland footing.

However, ISPCC chief executive Paul Gilligan said the talks revealed just how much further ahead in the area of child protection the North remained. He said the Government’s presentation talked about “new structural changes” compared with the North’s presentation on the complex processes they have in place.

“Admittedly a lot is happening in Britain in the wake of the Ian Huntley case but here in the south we are still operating from a greenfield situation.”

However, he welcomed the island-wide approach to child protection.

“What emerged was a clear acknowledgement that there is a huge need for cross-Border communication.

Reporting of child abuse procedures will be clear across the two jurisdictions. The PSNI and the gardaí will share information on a systematic rather than a case-by-case basis.”

Ahead of the conference, Minister for Children Brian Lenihan said the Constitution was an impediment to developing better child protection services.

Yesterday, he told the conference the Government was examining if the Constitution’s articles have an adverse impact on the welfare of children, and if so, could they be “child-proofed”.

He defended the Government’s performance on protecting children’s rights following anticipated criticism to be made by the UN tomorrow at a meeting in Geneva. He said he would tell the UN about the examination of the Constitution and it was a matter he has already raised.

Mr Gilligan noted such a review was called for by Judge Catherine McGuinness in the Kilkenny incest report in the early 1990s and “at the moment the Health Service Executive will not see a child without their parents’ consent because of legal advice that to do so would be unconstitutional”.

In relation to the Government’s commitment to sharing so-called soft information on people dismissed, suspended or moved from posts for harming children or vulnerable adults, the minister acknowledged that implementing it is a number of years away.