If you are worried about a child

You do not need to be sure.

If a child is at immediate risk, contact An Garda Síochána now. Otherwise this page sets out what to do and in what order.

The thing that stops people

Certainty is not your job.

Almost everybody who hesitates does so for the same reason: they are not certain, and being uncertain feels like a reason to wait and see.

It is not. Deciding whether a child has been harmed is Tusla's job and An Garda Síochána's job, and they have the powers and the training for it. Your job is to pass on what you noticed. Reasonable grounds for concern is the standard — not proof, and not a conviction of your own.

Make the child safe now

If a child is at immediate risk, contact An Garda Síochána. Nothing else on this page comes before that.

Tell the designated liaison person

Named in your organisation's safeguarding statement. If the concern is about them, your procedures should say where it goes instead.

Write it down the same day

What was seen or said, in the child's words where possible, without interpretation. Date, time, who was present, what you did.

Let it go where it goes

You will often not be told the outcome. That is not evidence that nothing happened.

If a child tells you something

Listen. Do not investigate.

Do not press for detail, do not ask leading questions, and do not promise to keep it secret — you cannot, and saying so is not unkind. Tell them you are glad they told you and that you have to tell somebody whose job it is to help.

Questioning a child is a specialist skill, and well-meant questions can make later evidence unusable. Write down what they said in their own words, as close to verbatim as you can manage, and stop there.

Answers

Questions people ask at this point.

Do I have to be sure before I report?

No, and this is the single most important thing on this page. You need reasonable grounds for concern, not proof. Deciding whether abuse occurred is Tusla's job and An Garda Síochána's job. Deciding whether to pass it on is yours.

Who do I tell first about a child protection concern?

Your organisation's designated liaison person, who is named in its child safeguarding statement. If the concern is about that person, your procedures should name where it goes instead.

When do An Garda Síochána get involved rather than Tusla?

Where a child is at immediate risk, contact An Garda Síochána straight away. Where a criminal offence may have been committed, both are informed. Otherwise a child protection or welfare concern goes to Tusla.

Should I tell the parents that a report is being made?

Normally parents are informed that a report is being made — unless telling them would endanger the child, place the reporter at risk of harm, or impair Tusla's ability to carry out an assessment. That judgement belongs with the designated liaison person, not with the person who noticed.

What should I write down about a concern?

What was seen or said, in the child's own words where possible, without interpretation. The date, the time, who was present, and what you did next. Written the same day.

What if I report a concern and I am wrong?

A person who reports in good faith and without malice has immunity from civil liability under the Protections for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act 1998, and an employee is protected from penalisation for reporting.

What if nothing seems to happen afterwards?

You will often not be told the outcome, and that is not evidence that nothing happened. If you remain concerned, or if the circumstances change, report again.

Who you would be working with

Fifteen years leading Ireland's national child protection unit.

Senior Investigating Officer with An Garda Síochána, leading three national units: the National Child Protection Unit, the Sexual Crime Management Unit and the Online Child Exploitation Unit. Ireland's National Expert to Interpol and Europol on child safeguarding.

Safeguarding policy developed with Tusla, the HSE and three government departments. M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare, Trinity College Dublin. More about Michael

do what you love, safely