1043. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Children First provides specific national guidance on the sex of adults supervising children in circumstances involving changing, showering, toileting or sleeping arrangements; whether it provides guidance where the sex of a supervising adult differs from their gender identity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65159/26]

1044. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether organisations working with children are permitted to determine independently the sex or gender of adults considered suitable to supervise children in changing rooms, showers, toilets and sleeping accommodation; whether her Department monitors consistency in such safeguarding arrangements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65158/26]

1045. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether national child safeguarding guidance requires consideration of the sex of adults supervising children in settings involving changing, showering, toileting or sleeping arrangements; whether her Department has provided guidance on how such arrangements should operate where the sex of a supervising adult differs from their gender identity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65157/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1043 to 1045, inclusive, together.

Suitability to work with children is determined through regulatory, qualification, vetting and safeguarding requirements, not by any single personal characteristic. Similarly, safeguarding responsibilities apply to all staff regardless of sex or gender identity.

The Children First Act 2015, which was fully commenced in December 2017, provides for a number of key child protection measures, including raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for mandated reporting of child protection concerns and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services to children. Implementation of Children First has been rolled out on a sectoral basis, and the core principle is that protecting children and keeping them as safe as possible is everybody’s business.

The Act places specific obligations on particular organisations that provide ‘relevant services’ to children and young people. This includes a requirement to keep children safe from harm while they are using the service, to carry out a risk assessment and to develop a Child Safeguarding Statement (CSS). The latter is a written statement that sets out the service provided and the principles and procedures in place to ensure, as much as possible, that a child or young person using the service is safe from harm.

The types of organisations and services to which these statutory obligations apply are set out in Schedule 1 to the Act and include early learning and care services, schools, health centres and any work or activity which involves providing educational, research, training, cultural, recreational, leisure, social or physical activities to children.

Section 11 of the Act specifically deals with the content of the Child Safeguarding Statement. CSSs must contain a written risk assessment and a specific list of procedures in place to address issues such as the selection and recruitment of staff, provision of child protection information and training to staff, reporting of child protection concerns to Tusla and investigation of allegations against staff. The organisation must also appoint a relevant person to be the first point of contact in respect of their CSS.

Under the Act, providers of relevant services are obliged to circulate their CSS to all staff members and to display it publicly. They must provide a copy of their CSS on request to Tusla, a parent or guardian of a child availing of the relevant service or to requesting members of the public. The Act also provides for Tusla to establish and maintain a publicly available register of non-compliance, for service providers who fail to provide a copy of their CSS to Tusla when requested to do so.

The Act operates side-by-side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017. These guidelines have been in place since 1999 and were fully revised and published in October 2017 to include reference to provisions of the Act.

The Guidance sets out definitions of abuse, and signs for its recognition. It explains how reports about reasonable concerns of child abuse or neglect should be made by the general public and professionals to Tusla. It also sets out safeguarding best practice to assist any organisation providing a service to children to create a safe environment.