FIANNA Fail would introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse for professionals working in the area, the party's general election manifesto on health pledges, reports Alison O'Connor, Health Correspondent.
Fianna Fail deputies attending constituency meetings organised by the ISPCC in recent weeks have said the party favoured the introduction of the reporting for suspected and known cases of abuse.
Mr Cian O Tighearnaigh, chief executive of the ISPCC, said yesterday he welcomed the Fianna Fail pledge. "But it is not just Fianna Fail. We have been very surprised at our meetings to notice the number of sitting TDs, including those in Government parties, who support mandatory reporting. A number of them feel that an opportunity was lost last year.
Mr O Tighearnaigh said it was clear that it was the professionals involved in the child care system who were against mandatory reporting and were taking an "ostrichlike" approach. A three year wait before the issue was reassessed meant we are asking that generation of children to remain at risk".
Fianna Fail has a detailed section in its manifesto in relation to childcare which the party says had not been properly funded by the Government who had ignored the recommendation of mandatory reporting in the Kilkenny incest expert group, the Kelly Fitzgerald case and the Madonna House investigations.
If in Government the party would request each of the State's health boards to develop a centralised child abuse register.