Church action:The Catholic Church will name the members and chairperson of its new National Board for Child Protection "within a month" a spokesman has said.
He said the board would place the church at the forefront of best practice on protection of children. It would implement the most up-to-date standards as contained in the church document Our Children: Our Church (adopted by the bishops in June) to protect any child in the life of the church from abuse, including physical, emotional and sexual.
Details of the plans and the board's functions have been sent to Minister of State for Children Brian Lenihan, he added.
The announcement follows the approval of the Holy See for the Irish church's policy document on child protection, Our Children: Our Church.
Drawn up with the assistance of professionals in child protection, this document would see the church practise up-to-date policies and procedures that will apply to anyone - religious and lay - with "a responsibility for the protection of children and young people in the Catholic Church in Ireland", said the spokesman.
"The document improves on the original 1996 church guidelines insofar as it relates to all forms of abuse," he added.
Establishing a board was a key recommendation.
It will include professionals experienced in dealing with sexual assault and rape and is already providing training in dioceses to priests, church employees and volunteers on how to deal with suspected abuse, with a person expressing concern about abuse or alleging abuse.
The training is under the aegis of the church's Child Protection Office.
Among those who assisted the bishops in drawing up that document was Maureen Lynott, director of the HSE's National Treatment Purchase Fund.
