People who report child abuse in good faith are immune from being sued for slander under legislation which has just come into operation. However, the legislation has also introduced a crime of knowingly making a false accusation of child abuse.
The Minister of State for Health with responsibility for children, Mr Frank Fahey, said yesterday he hoped the new Act would ensure that people would no longer be reluctant to report suspicions of child abuse for fear of being sued. This was one of the issues which emerged from the Murphy report into abuse in swimming.
He paid tribute to Fine Gael TD Mr Alan Shatter for introducing the Private Members Bill on which the legislation was based, and which has been amended. He stressed that the legislation covered, not only sexual abuse, but also physical and emotional abuse and neglect.
The Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act (1998) specifies the people to whom reports can be made with immunity - the Garda and 12 categories of health board personnel. The health board list includes social workers, child-care workers, all health board medical, dental and nursing personnel, psychologists, physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, health education officers, substance abuse counsellors and care assistants.
Mr Fahey told journalists yesterday that the Act did not offer protection for reporting to people working with children in a voluntary capacity who might not be in a position to deal with the allegation in a professional manner.
Referring to the new offence of false reporting, he said a professional person working in the area was now in a very weak position if such an allegation was made. They could only take a lengthy and expensive civil action. However, the onus of proof was very strong and it would have to be proved that the allegation was malicious.
The Act also protects from dismissal or any other form of discrimination employees who make a report of suspected child abuse.
While the measures contained in the Act all arose during the consultation process on mandatory reporting, it does not replace it. A White Paper on mandatory reporting will be introduced later in the year, according to Mr Fahey, following the outcome of the working group. Another working group was reviewing the guidelines on child abuse which were now in operation in health boards.