As of today, anyone who works with children has a legal responsibility to report to Tulsa any concerns they may have regarding a child's welfare and protection.
The full implementation of the final strand of the Children First Act 2015 also means there is now an obligation on all services working with children to devise a Child Safeguarding Statement outlining measures being taken by the service to mitigate any potential risk to a child in their service.
We're delighted to see full implementation of the final strand of the Children First Act 2015 today, legal requirement placed on professionals who work with children to report to @tusla any concerns they may have regarding a child’s welfare & protection https://t.co/SWH8zxEaRc
— Barnardos Ireland (@Barnardos_IRL) December 11, 2017
"Barnardos has long campaigned for the Children First Guidelines to be put on a statutory footing and today we welcome the full and final provisions coming into effect," Barnardos Head of Advocacy, June Tinsley, said today.
"This is a very positive step as it sends out a strong societal message that child protection is everyone’s responsibility.
"Building on the well-established and strong foundations of the Children First Guidelines, the new provisions outline a wide breadth of professionals who are ‘mandated persons’ thereby extending this collective responsibility to protect children."
Highlighting that the new law will likely lead to an increase in referrals to Tulsa, June is keen to see that adequate staff and resources are implemented.
“Like with any new law, effective and consistent implementation is key, so it does remain to be seen how the provisions will translate into practice," she said in a statement released by the charity today.
"Tusla has issued a suite of publications and online training to enhance awareness and understanding of the new responsibilities."
