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A ROW ERUPTED between the Department of Children and Tusla, and Scouting Ireland over the organisations’ child safety practices – here’s what it’s about.
On Wednesday 27 February, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone told Dáil Éireann that parents should ensure that there are an adequate number of trained supervisors on overnight Scouting Ireland trips.
She said that Tusla had written to Scouting Ireland calling for an “urgent review” into the manner in which the organisation manages child protection concerns and disclosures, and questioned the current viability of overnight trips.
This caused some surprise: the organisation is going through an overhaul in relation to its child protection, governance and complaints procedures; it wasn’t thought that there were ongoing issues.
A review had found evidence of alleged abusers and hundreds of alleged victims based on the work to date, with most cases dating between the 1960s and 1980s, although there may be one from an earlier period.
The Irish Times has reported that there are over 300 alleged victims and over 200 alleged abusers. Up until recently it was the government’s understanding that those alleged abusers were no longer working at the organisation.
But on Wednesday, Zappone’s statement inferred that there were ongoing safety issues.
Irish Times journalist Jack Power, who first reported the 2016 rape allegation at the organisation which prompted investigations and an overhaul of its procedures, reports that the Tusla letter questioned practices based on incidents in recent years where children were allegedly subjected to sexual assaults by other juveniles while camping overnight.
“Parents who seek these assurances and ask sensible questions are behaving reasonably and responsibly,” Zappone asserted on Wednesday.
The chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Children, Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell said that this turn of events was worrying, and that he would write to Scouting Ireland to request that the organisation appears before the committee as soon as possible.
Where’s the evidence?
But yesterday, Scouting Ireland responded by asking for proof as to why the government raised concerns over its overnight trips.
Overnight trips and the experience of camping outside at night is an experience every scout should have the opportunity to enjoy and we have a strong policy framework in place to support this activity in Scouting Ireland.
“Again this matter was never raised by Tusla in any meetings with our organisation,” it said.
The organisation said that Tusla made a “serious allegation” in alleging that “the actions of key personnel holding a role in safeguarding may have been compromised”.
“This is a most serious allegation, which we would have responded to immediately, had we known or understood Tusla’s concerns. It has not been raised in any of our meetings with Tusla,” Scouting Ireland says.
Safeguarding expert Ian Elliott, whose report found that Scouting Ireland’s handling of a rape allegation was “deeply flawed”, yesterday held interviews on RTÉ Radio One and the Six One News where he said that he wanted the letter from Tusla to Scouting Ireland to be withdrawn.
Elliott, who is also the interim safeguarding manager for Scouting Ireland, called for an urgent meeting with Tusla, “with regards to where is the evidence, or what evidence exists, to support the very serious contents of this letter”.
He said that the letter from Tusla ordering a full review into Scouting Ireland’s child safeguarding is ‘baffling’ to him, and came as a ‘very great surprise’ to Scouting Ireland.
He also said that the organisation is “as safe as it can be and getting safer, we’re working on it all the time”.
There are 17 policies and procedures in place for camping and overnight trips, he said.
Elliott also added that it was important to address the impression that young people involved in Scouting Ireland are unsafe.
Its expected that officials from Tusla will meet with Scouting Ireland in the coming days to discuss this issue.
- with reporting from Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy
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Don’t see Tusla offering the same advice or concerns about the Catholic Church
@Ulick Burke: what’s weird is even previously people attacked Tusla and appeared to be blindly protecting Scouting Ireland, this is worrying and reflects how people tried to protect the church previously.
@Niall Carry: Children were being raped in Church run boarding schools for decades. An overnight trip that must have lasted a lifetime, they were tortured night after night with no way out.
@Ulick Burke: grow up
Tusla are great at letter writing any chance it’s a copy and paste error
If they have allegations they should come out and openly declare them.
If they are unhappy with proceedures the should raise that directly with the organisation, before the public, as a matter of courtesy.
Its obvious that scouting can be an attractive opportunity for molestors, and that mixed age groups also carry these risks.
None of my kids were ever in it, but I see scouting as a wonderful activity, if managed properly.
I had assumed that it was now being safely run after years of not being.
If there is nothing concrete coming from Tusla, then it looks like they just disapprove of scouting as an activity. That would make me more worried about Tusla than Scouting Ireland.
Tusla!
A person who works with young people just told me today that having Reported (and did all the protocol etc) a case of a Child Protection nature she encountered in her work – and under the Safeguarding Criteria – on October 13 th last, to Tusla, the First And Only time anyone spoke/ interacted with her, was yesterday. Yes, yesterday Feb 28th. That is 4 months and 15 days later…And this was a serious concern regarding a 15 yr old male. And despite returning calls to Tusla offices for past month.
They are a disgrace, this “service “ is broken, inept, basically fire brigading then when something comes up in the public arena eg scouts issue etc….I worry about the vulnerable children left for months and longer in dangerous situations DESPITE they being flagged. It’s a disgrace.
Thats a completely different story, the catholic church was in charge of the scouts then, not anymore
@thejamer: Maybe you should talk to people who work with, and are regularly, reporting Child Protection concerns to Tusla eg Schools, DLPs, Designated Persons etc and ask about their experiences with Tusla? Their Response times? Their follow up? When, how? As I said earlier, coming out of the cupboards when there is a big, public outcry is one thing; but day-to-day functioning and dealings with Tusla is pathetic. And I know many who complain, but get no where, no improvements.
@Matthew Handibode: the church had little or no involvement with scouts. That’s a smokescreen. And cases are now to light after it dropped Catholic name.
@Matthew Handibode: You are way off beam
Tusla are a shower of toothless dinosaurs who push more paper than all the libraries in the world & couldn’t give a shite about kids. Their operating principals ensure not child safety but continuity of jobs at tusla so they can keep cashing in. Where is tusla when a child is being torn between a parent who chooses a life of chaos on drugs & a Foster family who would raise them in a heartbeat? They are right there in the middle fighting not for the child but for the addict who hardly remembers the child. Example of tuslas greatness: a Foster family cannot get a child’s hair cut until the parent who won’t respond allows it. So a little boy is being bullied coz he looks like he’s unkept or just not like the rest of the kids, we all know how that goes. They are a great quango that’s 4 sure!
Church = Peedo
Peedo = Church, amazing how everything is connected to/with the church! Time to shut all church doors.
@Con O’Riordan: What is a Peedo?
Scouting Ireland has serious questions to answer regarding historical sexual abuse cases dating back to the 1940s which they are desperate to cover up. Tusla just wants to get on the band-wagon but are really not that bothered. Pat Rabbitte is just the man to follow orders.
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