Church wants state vetting to protect children

A state vetting system for people who work with children should be implemented to protect youngsters in Ireland, the Catholic Church said today.

Such a scheme should allow for the sharing of ‘soft information’, similar to the system implemented in the North following the Soham murders in the UK, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science heard.

The Bishop of Kilmore Leo O’Reilly also said the Church would support the introduction of mandatory reporting where it was protected by law.

Child protection officer Jack Cleary said the regulations they had put in place for reporting child abuse accusations in the wake of the Ferns Report were as close to mandatory reporting as they could get without legislation.

He said the only thing missing was making the failure to report a suspicion a criminal offence.

A delegation from the Irish Episcopal Conference and the Conference of Religious in Ireland were meeting with the committee to discuss the child protection policy ‘Our Children, Our Church’ published last November.

Bishop O’Reilly, chairman of the Education Commission of the Bishops’ Conference, said all Church personnel and those in schools run by the Church should be vetted by gardai.

He called for the introduction of a system of vetting and clearance similar to the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (Pocva) used in the North.

“The absence of such a system here is a vulnerability which can be exploited by determined abusers of children in either jurisdiction and as such, should be of the utmost concern to all of us who are committed to the care and protection of children on the island.

“The Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland participate in the Pocva vetting system and we need a similar model for the whole of the island.

“Indeed a European wide system would be welcome,” he said.

The Pocva scheme allows for the sharing of soft information – anecdotal evidence or suspicion a person is a danger to children, but where there is no conviction – between agencies.

Educationalist Sister Eileen Randles said as far as vetting people for schools was concerned, they had been given the impression by the Government that soft information would not be included.

Fine Gael Education Spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said the committee should call on the Government to introduce vetting as a matter of urgency.

Sr Randles said the state should also make the ‘Stay Safe’ awareness programme mandatory under the primary curriculum, to force the 15% of primary schools not teaching it to implement the scheme.

“We are convinced that this programme can enable children to give expression to fears they may have and to describe experiences they may have had.

“It also empowers children to avoid situations which might or could cause them harm,” she said.

The delegation defended the role of Director of Child Protection, introduced in each diocese as part of the Our Children, Our Church policy and whose job is to report allegations to civil authorities.

Bishop O’Reilly said the role was not a barrier to passing on information, but a liaison position required by the state’s Children First guidelines.

The individual’s discretion on whether to report suspicions was very restricted and could be overruled.

Sr Randles said in schools the number of cases not reported was negligible.

“The vast, vast majority of allegations or disclosures by children are reported on and the Health Board comes in and investigates,” she said.