A new alert system aimed at informing the authorities and the public about children who have gone missing and may be in danger, is to be established.
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern said today that he has given the go-ahead to the 'Amber Alert' system, which will be similar to initiatives operating in other countries.
Amber alerts are usually enacted when there is reason to believe that a missing child has been abducted or kidnapped, is in imminent danger of serious injury of death and when then is sufficient information to describe the missing child and the circumstances in which they disappeared.
Such alert systems usually involve the rapid sharing of information, including photographs, about missing children.
The Amber Alert system was originally established in the US following the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas in 1995.
Speaking at the launch of a new report from the Garda Síochána Inspectorate on the handling of missing persons cases, Mr Ahern said the establishment of the system would be a challenging task which would require the support of a whole range of governmental agencies, NGOs, the media and members of the public.
Protocols with the Health Service Executive (HSE) on reporting structures for children missing from care have been agreed and will be formally signed off in the coming weeks.
In addition, extra personnel resources have been assigned to the Missing Persons Bureau at Garda Headquarters and in each Garda District in which a HSE children's care home is situated a designated sergeant will be appointed who will liaise with the care home and co-ordinate enquiries with the Missing Persons Bureau.
"In bringing forward recommendations the Inspectorate is very conscious of the pressures on the public purse at this time. In recommending an amber alert system we are satisfied that much can be done without incurring additional cost," said Chief Inspector Kathleen O'Toole.
The Garda Síochána Inspectorate's report also recommended that the new alert system be adopted on an all-island basis.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy welcomed the publication of the report and said that missing persons are a key priority for the Gardai.
"My commitment as commissioner is to ensure that we build on the considerable work already done by An Garda Siochana and that we fully embrace the findings of the report and harness international best practice in the area of nissing persons," he said.
The ISPCC also welcomed the announcement of the new alert system and called for the other recommendations included in the Garda Inspectorate's report to be implemented as soon as possible..
The organisation said that as it currently stands, Ireland falls short of adequate policies, procedures and services that deal with missing children and that the introduction of the measures would greatly contribute to addressing the issue of Missing Children in Ireland.
It also called for the introduction in Ireland of the 116 000 as a common emergency telephone number. The dedicated helpline number, which was reserved by the European Union over two years ago, is operational in a number of other European countries, including Belgium and Greece.
According to provisional figures supplied by the gardai, there were 489 people still missing in Ireland up to March 17th last.
