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| Title: | Advice of the Ombudsman for children on the scheme of the National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011 |
| Authors: | Ombudsman for Children Office (OCO) |
| Publisher: | Ombudsman for Children Office (OCO) |
| Issue Date: | Dec-2011 |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10147/252430 |
| Type: | Report |
| Language: | en |
| Description: | 1.1. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence published the Scheme
of the National Vetting Bureau Bill on 27 July 2011. The aim of the Bill
is to give effect to the recommendation made by the Joint Oireachtas
Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children to introduce
legislation to regulate and control the manner in which records of
criminal convictions and information including soft information can be
stored and disclosed by the Garda Síochána and other agencies for
the purpose of child protection.
1.2. The Oireachtas Committee concluded that an amendment to the
Constitution would not be necessary to allow for the establishment of a
statutory vetting scheme that would satisfy the requirements of child
protection and provide adequate safeguards for the rights of any
persons affected by the proposed vetting legislation. Specifically, the
Committee recommended in its first report on the 28th Amendment of
the Constitution Bill 2007 that the Government prepare and publish as
a matter of priority legislation to establish a statutory scheme:
• for the vetting of all persons involved in working in any capacity with
children;
• for the statutory regulation of the manner in which information in
relation to records of criminal prosecutions, criminal convictions and
soft information may be collated, exchanged and deployed by An
Garda Síochána or other statutory agencies for the purpose of
ensuring the highest standards of child protection within the State;
and
• to require that all agencies, organisations, bodies, clubs,
educational and childcare establishments and groups working with
or involved with children ensure that all of those working under their
aegis either in a paid or voluntary capacity with children are subject
to vetting1.
1.3. Section 7 of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 provides that the
Ombudsman for Children may give advice to Ministers of the
Government on any matter relating to the rights and welfare of
children, including the probable effect of proposals for legislation. In
accordance with this statutory function, the Ombudsman for Children’s
Office has set out below a number of observations andrecommendations on the proposals put forward by the Government in
the Scheme of the National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011, in addition to
highlighting a number of relevant international human rights standards.
1.4. The Ombudsman for Children’s Office has on a number of occasions
provided advice to Government and to the Houses of the Oireachtas
on proposals to amend the Constitution; in these submissions, this
Office advised that such an amendment explicitly enable the
Oireachtas to legislate for the collection and exchange of information
relating to the potential endangerment of children2.
1.5. The absence of a statutory framework governing this aspect of child
protection represents a serious lacuna in existing legislation aimed at
shielding children from harm, notwithstanding the significant and
essential work carried out by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU).
The passage of the National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011 through the
Houses of the Oireachtas is therefore a welcome opportunity to
address this deficit and put in place a legally robust vetting system.
1.6. In emphasising the importance of vetting, however, it should not be
forgotten that it is one component of a larger child protection
framework and that it cannot guarantee children’s safety in isolation. A
strong vetting mechanism is not a replacement for sound recruitment
processes; indeed, as Children First: National Guidance for the
Protection and Welfare of Children makes clear, employers and heads
of organisations where staff or volunteers have access to children
should at all times implement safe recruitment practices, including
vetting of applicants and staff, rigorous checking of references,
interview procedures and monitoring of good professional practice3.
1.7. In addition, reform with respect to vetting will necessarily interact with
other forthcoming legislation relevant to child protection dealing with
the reporting of child abuse, spent convictions, and the proposals to
put Children First on a statutory footing. Every effort must be made to
ensure consistency and coherence between these different proposals.
1.8. It is acknowledged that there are already great demands placed on the
GCVU and that the issue of capacity cannot be ignored. However, the
trajectory of law reform must be clear: Ireland should put in place a mechanism that builds on the work done at present and aligns it with
best practice. |
| Keywords: | LEGISLATION
CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD |
| Local subject classification: | VETTING PROCEDURE |
| Appears in Collections: | Office of the Ombudsman for Children
|
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