The Government has abandoned its pledge to introduce mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse. Instead, it is to negotiate agreed procedures with teachers, counsellors, doctors and other professionals as to when they should report suspected child abuse cases to the authorities.
The pledge to introduce mandatory reporting was included in the Programme for Government.
If implemented, it would have reversed the position adopted by the previous government which had decided against introducing mandatory reporting, after receiving submissions from a wide range of organisations in the child care area.
The abandonment of the pledge was announced in the Dail by the Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Frank Fahey. He was replying to questions from his predecessor, Mr Austin Currie and from Ms Breda Moynihan-Cronin. "The principal aim of mandatory reporting is to improve the reporting of child abuse so that all cases come to the attention of the authorities as quickly as possible, in order to allow intervention in the interests of the child," he said.
"This will be my focus rather than a narrow focus on legislative change. I am aware of fears that an over-legalistic approach could be counter-productive and could drive the problem underground so that less abuse would be reported.
"What I have in mind is the putting in place of agreed protocols on reporting of child abuse by professionals, who of course already have a duty of care to their clients."
The relevant professional groups would be fully consulted, he said.
Mandatory reporting has been opposed by social workers and other groups on a number of grounds. These include fears that overburdened social work departments will be flooded with reports based on unfounded suspicions. However, Barnardo's and the ISPCC are strongly in favour of the introduction of mandatory reporting following the Kilkenny incest case and the Kelly Fitzgerald case.
The Government's decision was attacked yesterday by the Labour Party spokesman on health, Mr Derek McDowell, who described it as a cynical U-turn.
"The decision today is not necessarily incorrect but it reveals the position adopted by Fianna Fail in the run-up to the election as one solely conceived to derive electoral advantage," he said.
In his reply Mr Fahey also suggested that an arrangement introduced by Mr Currie two years ago, under which gardai and social workers must notify each other of suspected cases of child abuse, will continue.
The arrangement was to be evaluated after a time, but no evaluation has been published.