Child Safeguarding Statement

Tusla has responsibility for child protection and welfare services, family support, educational welfare and a range of other services.

1. Tusla services include a range of universal and targeted services:

Child protection and welfare services;
Educational welfare services;
Therapeutic services;
Alternative care;
Family and locally-based community supports;
Early years services.

2. Tusla’s principles to safeguard children from harm are:

We are committed to safeguarding the children who avail of our services.
We believe that the welfare of the children attending our service is paramount.
We are committed to child-centred practice in all our work with children.
We believe children have a right to be heard, listened to and taken seriously. Taking account of their age and understanding, they should be consulted and involved in all matters and decisions that may affect their lives.
We believe in supporting families to keep children safe from harm.
We strive to work in partnership with families, while recognising the welfare of the child as paramount.
Parents/carers have a right to respect and should be consulted and involved in matters that concern their family.
Child safeguarding is a multiagency, multidisciplinary activity. Agencies and professionals must work together in the interests of the children.
Every child who attends our service should be treated with respect and dignity.

3. Risk assessment:

We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services. Below is a list of the amalgamated areas of risk identified and the list of procedures for managing these risks. Tusla’s Organisational Risk Management Policy and our Incident Management policy support the identification and management of strategic and specific risks in support of our Child Safeguarding Statement.

	Risk identified	Procedure in place to manage risk identified
1	Risk of harm to a child from a member of staff	Recruitment and selection policy and procedure Staff procedure for reporting child protection and welfare concerns Code of Behaviour Guidance for working with Children and Young People Child protection and welfare allegations against Tusla staff policy and procedure Child Safeguarding Statement: Additional Guidance to Manage Risk of Harm
2	Risk of harm by a visitor to the service (workers, parents, placements, etc.):	Supervision/ accompaniment/ admission/ public access policies as relevant to local services Policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines regarding safe practice and service delivery
3	Risk of harm by another child in the service:	Supervision/ accompaniment/ admission/ Anti-bullying policies as relevant to local services. Policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines regarding safe practice and service delivery
4	Non-compliance with the Children First Act 2015 and Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children	Children first governance structures Tusla quality and risk management services Children first commissioning processes Procedure for maintaining a list of mandated persons
5	Risk of harm or concern not being recognised or reported by Tusla staff	Staff information and supervision procedure Reporting procedure Mandatory Children First training
6	Risk of harm to a child through use of ICT and social media, and inappropriate use of photography and imagery	Social media and digital images guidance for staff working with children and young people, including online safety ICT acceptable use policy

Note: The definition of harm in relation to a child is: ‘assault, ill-treatment or neglect of the child in a manner that seriously affects or is likely to seriously affect the child’s health, development or welfare, or sexual abuse of the child’.
Note: Each relevant service delivery unit maintains additional risks on the required template.

4. Procedures:

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our services:

Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children.
Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification of the occurrence of harm.
Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla.
Procedure for maintaining a list of the persons (if any) in the relevant service who are mandated persons.
Procedure for appointing a relevant person.
Additional guidance to manage the risk of harm.
Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child while availing of our service.

All procedures listed are available here.

5. Implementation:

We recognise that implementation is an on-going process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our services. This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed by 11th February 2026 or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

Kate Duggan
(Provider and Relevant Person)
Chief Executive
Tusla - Child and Family Agency

For further information contact the Relevant Person at tuslacss@tusla.ie