Madam, - The recent launch by the ISPCC of its campaign to have Garda vetting extended to all individuals who work with children is fully supported by the NSPCC Northern Ireland.
The current disparity in arrangements between Northern Ireland and the Republic in relation to vetting those who work with children is very worrying; potential employees and volunteers, who have either lived or worked south of the Border cannot be vetted to the same level as those domiciled in Northern Ireland.
Conversely, we have the bizarre situation where bona fide childcare organisations in the South which may be unable to vet personnel from the Republic can check potential staff/volunteers who previously lived or worked in Northern Ireland against the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety PECS Register.
NSPCC Northern Ireland welcomes the recent statement from Mr Brian Lenihan, TD, announcing that a Government working group has been established to consider the enhancement of vetting procedures for children. While the Minister rightly points out in his press release that vetting is but one part of good employment practice, it is nonetheless important in both deterring and screening out unsuitable people who might seek work with children.
ISPCC has been advocating that, as a first step, Garda vetting is made available to all organisations, both voluntary and statutory, which work with children. Currently access to police vetting is inconsistently applied and a move to a level playing field is essential.
The Government should also consider parallel arrangements to those in place in Northern Ireland, where vetting has been the norm for many years. In addition to the provision of conviction information to potential employers, a number of other sources of information are examined in any vetting check in this jurisdiction.
These include:
1. A check of names listed on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety PECS Register. These are individuals deemed unsuitable to work with children. All will have been subject to formal disciplinary procedures and will have been dismissed or moved from posts for harming children.
2. Provision by PSNI of relevant non-conviction information.
3. List 99: a register held by the Department of Education of teachers who have been dismissed/moved from posts for harming children.
With increased movement of personnel across open borders, the vetting of those who work with children is a Europe-wide problem. There are a range of different systems in each EU country to check potential staff and on the island of Ireland we have both the strongest and the most limited systems creating serious anomalies and weaknesses on both sides of the border.
The state has a responsibility under the UN and European Conventions to protect children; this is one area of cross-border co-operation that should receive the highest priority. - Yours, etc.,
IAN ELLIOTT, Divisional Director, NSPCC Northern Ireland, North Derby Street, Belfast 15.