Minister orders review of safeguarding structures in Scouting Ireland

A review of new governance and safeguarding structures within Scouting Ireland has been ordered by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone.

The former secretary-general of the Department of Education and Skills, Brigid McManus, has been appointed to carry out another independent assessment of governance in the country’s largest scouting organisation following controversy over how scout leaders dealt with allegations of child sex abuse which were first revealed by The Irish Times in February 2018.

Ms Zappone said the latest review would examine whether the recommendations of an earlier report carried out by Jillian van Turnhout in June 2018 had been fully and satisfactorily implemented.

The Minister had previously described Ms van Turnhout’s report as setting out a pathway for Scouting Ireland to address “shocking deficits in the organisation”.

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It had highlighted a major historic child sex abuse scandal linked to the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland and the Scout Association of Ireland, the two scouting organisations which merged in 2003 to form Scouting Ireland.

Ms Zappone had cancelled funding for the organisation when the controversy emerged up to October 2018 due to what she termed were “dysfunctional and blinkered” governance arrangements as well as the failure of board members to respond to allegations of abuse by senior volunteers.

The Minister also criticised scout leaders for responding inappropriately to media reports of serious allegations of abuse.

Ms Zappone has asked for Ms McManus to have her reviewed completed by April.

Welcoming the appointment of Ms McManus, Scouting Ireland said it was looking forward to assisting her and was available to engage with her immediately.

Scouting Ireland chief executive, Anne Griffin, said the organisation had provided Ms Zappone with a comprehensive report on its governance last October in which it outlined changes to its structures following the recommendations in Ms van Turnhout’s review.

“We have invested heavily in putting strong governance structures in place and we look forward to assisting Ms McManus and we will co-operate fully with her as she undertakes her review,” Ms Griffin said.