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Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has welcomed the considerable progress achieved by Government Departments and sectors in the consistent and comprehensive implementation of Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children The Minister was commenting following this week’s Government decision on the publication of Children First Sectoral Implementation Plans by relevant Departments’ on their websites.

Minister Fitzgerald stated that: ‘The Government decision recognises that everybody has a responsibility to safeguard children, prevent abuse and identify concerns and assist, where possible, in achieving the best possible outcomes for children. The leadership and transparency demonstrated by Government departments in developing and publishing their Sectoral Implementation Plans is evidence that this responsibility is clearly recognised at the highest levels of the public service.”

The revised Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children was published in July 2011. It provides greater clarity and guidance for individuals and organisations in identifying and responding appropriately to child abuse and neglect and emphasises the importance of multi-disciplinary, inter-agency working in the management of reports of alleged abuse and full co-operation to ensure better outcomes for children and families.

In parallel with the development of legislative proposals to put Children First on a statutory footing, significant work has been undertaken to achieve full and consistent implementation of the revised Guidance. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has established a Children First Implementation Inter-Departmental Group (CFIDG) to bring central government oversight to the implementation process. The direct responsibility for implementation rests at organisation level in line with the Guidance and the proposed legislation.

Each Department represented on the Group has prepared a Children First Sectoral Implementation Plan. These Implementation Plans are designed to be high level documents setting out implementation requirements for the parent Department and for agencies under its aegis which have contact with children and young people. The Plans set out the mechanisms in place, or to be put in place, to support the continued implementation of Children First Guidance at sectoral level. They are for a period of one year, at which time they will be reviewed.

The Departments currently represented on the CFIDG are as follows:

Ø Department of Children and Youth Affairs;

Ø Department of Education and Skills;

Ø Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government;

Ø Department of Justice and Equality;

Ø Department of Social Protection;

Ø Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport;

Ø Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht;

Ø Department of Health.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs’ Children First Sectoral Implementation Plan will be published today on the department’s website www.dcya.ie.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Children First Implementation Inter-Departmental Group continue to work in cooperation with the Children and Family Services of the HSE in relation to key issues and priorities such as the provision of information, training and advice to relevant organisations/sectors and the development of a website and a communications strategy in relation to Children First.