Ireland's Children's Minister Barry Andrews revealed a 99 point plan to strengthen the country's child protection system, including obligating those who deal with children, such as teachers to report suspected abuse.
The measures were a response to recommendations contained in the Ryan report into institutional child abuse.
Among steps outlined in the Children First guidelines, teachers, nurses and other state employees who deal with children will be obliged to report cases of suspected child abuse to authorities, a national "date of atonement" is being considered and a national memorial for abuse victims is being planned, The Irish Times reported.
Independent inspections of all residential facilities for children, including young people with disabilities and separated children seeking asylum, to help protect against abuse and mistreatment are also due within the next two years, it added.
The Associated Press reports that Andrews also said 270 more social workers must be recruited because too many children had nobody to assess the dangers in their lives.
Andrews said a national memorial would "act as a constant reminder of the neglect and abuse of the past and as a warning to be vigilant," The Sudbury Star reported.
He said the new system did not amount to mandatory reporting, which can involve the criminalisation of those who fail to report abuse concerns, The Irish Times report said. He pointed out that some jurisdictions were moving away from such a system because it was unwieldy and inefficient.
The Ryan Commission Report published in May found that orders of Catholic brothers and nuns abused tens of thousands of children in their care, and secular authorities did nothing effective to stop it.
It also highlighted how Ireland today still has poor standards for protecting children from beatings, molestation and other cruelty. It made 20 recommendations to the government that Andrews said have been fully accepted, the Associated Press report added.
"The damage caused by a culture that tolerated and even encouraged physical, sexual and emotional abuse for decades will not be undone by words alone. It is by implementing this action plan that we will win back the trust of those whom we abandoned," Andrews said.
SOURCE
Reporting of suspected abuse now compulsory (Irish Times)
Ireland to combat Catholic child abuse (The Sudbury Star)
Ireland unveils plan to combat child abuse (Google News, AP)
ARCHIVE
Church hierarchy "betrayed" orders
Brothers seek forgiveness over abuse
LINK
Implementation Plan from Ryan Commission Report