Claim children’s rights amendment would act as a ‘living memorial’

A CHILDREN’S rights amendment would be a ‘living memorial’ to the victims of abuse catalogued in the Ryan Report, the Children’s Rights Alliance will tell the Government today.

In its response to the horrific findings of the Ryan Report into years of clerical child abuse, the CRA will present a detailed list of recommendations to Minister for Children Barry Andrews today.

Among the main points are increased vetting and inspections, the establishment of a child death review committee, and a revamping of the Social Services Inspectorate.

It also claims the two Government-appointed child protection rapporteurs should be charged with ensuring a legal framework for all the Ryan Report recommendations to be implemented.

Stating that the Government is “not able to re-write history”, the CRA’s response paper notes that Mr Andrews has been given until the end of July to “develop a plan for the implementation of the recommendations [from the Ryan Report].”

But the CRA claims the care and child protection systems must be reformed to “restore public confidence”.

In detailing its support for the recommendations of the Ryan Report, the paper also urges other measures it says need to be introduced.

According to the CRA: “The successful passage of a children’s rights amendment would be a ‘living memorial’. We call on all political parties to work together under the auspices of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children to reach political consensus on proposed wording for a constitutional amendment to be placed before the people as soon as is practicable.”

It also claims the next National Children’s Strategy must be rights-based, and that all children in care must be covered by the national children’s standards and inspected by the Social Services Inspectorate, which should itself be reformed to create one independent inspectorate reporting directly to the Oireachtas and with a range of powerful enforcement mechanisms.

It is also recommended that the Garda Vetting Unit be placed on a statutory footing and provide legislation for soft information vetting.

The CRA said all children who have been in care should have a statutory entitlement to aftercare support, a development which will require an amendment to Section 45 of the Child Care Act 1991. The CRA also stressed the need for children to be supported to maintain contact with their families, once it is in the child’s best interests.

It also calls for increased resources and staffing at all levels, including out-of-hours services.

“A programme of work must also be instigated to tackle the weakness of the social work system,” it states.

“It must ensure that each and every call to report an allegation of child abuse is answered and responded to.”

* www.childrensrights.ie