An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-17
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Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel

I wish to raise the matter of St. John Ambulance Ireland. The Minister's written reply to survivors and my colleagues in both Houses on the implementation of Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's report is procedurally detailed but lacking in any real conviction. Throughout, we are repeatedly told that St. John Ambulance Ireland is an independent organisation outside the Department's aegis and that the State has no governance role. Survivors do not experience abuse in organisational silos. They do not distinguish between a State body, a charity or a voluntary organisation when the abuse occurs in spaces where children were meant to be safe. It is also important to acknowledge that this issue did not come to light by chance. It came to light because of the persistence and courage of survivors who worked tirelessly to expose these failures and ensure that survivors' voices could not be ignored. Let us be clear: independence does not mean absence of responsibility. It cannot be allowed to become a shield behind which the State retreats when safeguarding failures come to light.
One of the central recommendations of Dr. Shannon's report was that the national safeguarding officer be independent, specifically to counter what he described as cultural deference within St. John Ambulance Ireland. Yet, departmental funding for that role has now ended and the same officer is being retained directly by the organisation itself.
Survivors are entitled to ask how genuine independence is being protected in these circumstances. I am also concerned that the Minister's reply details extensive engagements with boards, audits and governance structures but says nothing about engagement with survivors themselves. Who has spoken to survivors? Who has updated them? Who has listened to their concerns? Survivors are not footnotes; they are central stakeholders. I ask for the Minister to come to the House, debate this issue and commit to a formal survivor-centred engagement and accountability framework where serious safeguarding failures occur in independent or charitable organisations involving children.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-17