A new cross border initiative has been launched today to campaign for better All-Ireland legislation to protect children. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children have joined forces to develop a common approach to the vetting of those unsuitable to work with children and in the registration and management of sex offenders.
The Chief Executive of the ISPCC, Paul Gilligan has said that there was a need to ensure that legislation is largely similar on both sides of the border to tackle the issue of child abuse on an all-Ireland basis and afford all children equal protection under the law. The Policy Advisor to the NSPCC, Colin Reid, said the vetting process in the South lagged considerably behind the system in the North. He called for a radical legislative overhaul in the Republic to put cross border vetting arrangements in place. On the question of tracking and management of sex offenders, both the Irish and UK Governments have announced legislative developments. The Irish Government is due to bring the Sex Offenders Act into law later this year to establish a Sex Offenders Register. Under the new legislation a person convicted of child abuse offences has to register with the Gardaí and disclose the conviction to employers.
