Child Safeguarding Statement Public Register of Non-Compliance

Following the full enactment of the Children First Act 2015 (2015 Act) on 11th December 2017, all providers of relevant services which are in operation for greater than three months are legally required to have a CSS in place. The Tusla Child Safeguarding Statement Compliance Unit (CSSCU) is the dedicated Tusla department set up to manage the requirements for providers to have a Child Safeguarding Statement in place that is compliant with the requirements of s.11 of the 2015 Act.

Under the provision of the Children First Act, 2015, Tusla is responsible for operating and maintaining the required Register of Non-Compliance under s.13, and the enforcement process leading up to being placed on the register under s.12. Services who are found to be non-compliant with the requirement to have a compliant Child Safeguarding Statement in place will be placed on the Register of Non-Compliance. The Register shall be available publicly in the Tusla Child Safeguarding Statement Compliance Unit Office and online here.

This register shall operate in line with the Children First Act 2015 (Section 13), as follows:

Section 13.

1. The Agency shall establish and maintain a register of non-compliance notices (in this Act referred to as the “register of non-compliance”).
2. As soon as may be after a non-compliance notice comes into effect pursuant to section 12, the Agency shall enter the particulars of the non-compliance notice on the register of non-compliance.
3. Subject to subsection (4), an entry made in respect of a non-compliance notice shall be removed from the register of non-compliance upon receipt by the Agency of the child safeguarding statement to which the entry relates or upon being satisfied that a child safeguarding statement is no longer required, as may be appropriate, whichever is the earlier.
4. A person who is the subject of a non-compliance notice may at any time apply to the Agency to have the entry concerned removed from the register of non-compliance and the Agency may, if it considers it appropriate to do so, remove the entry.
5. The register of non-compliance shall be made available for inspection by members of the public at all reasonable times at the principal office of the Agency.

Any provider or member of the public can report information (unsolicited information or concerns about a service) to Tusla’s CSSCU, regarding a relevant service which does not have a Child Safeguarding Statement in place or has a Child Safeguarding Statement which is not in line with the requirements of the Act.

Tusla’s CSSCU may contact any service which it has information about and may request a copy of the Child Safeguarding Statement at any time. If you fail to provide a copy of the Child Safeguarding Statement to Tusla when requested to do so, steps will be taken in line with the Children First Act, which may result in your service being added to a Register of Non-Compliance which is a publicly held register.

The responsibility for the maintenance and updating of the register is the responsibility of the Head of Registrations and Regulatory Enforcement Children’s Services Regulation, Tusla. Queries in respect of the register can be made to csscu@tusla.ie.