It has been three years since the completion of the Shannon report into sexual abuse of children at St. John Ambulance. It is a harrowing report which concluded that the organisation had failed to act against the perpetrator for years, despite, "a significant degree of organisational awareness of the risk that he posed to children". One of the central recommendations of that report was that the national safeguarding officer be independent, specifically to counter what was described as a cultural deference within St. John Ambulance. However, departmental funding for that role has now been ended and the same officer is being retained directly by the organisation itself, which at the very least raises a question mark over the independence of the role. I understand that survivors have been attempting to engage with, and discuss this with, the Minister for children but there has been no engagement whatsoever. In replies to parliamentary questions, the Minister details engagement with boards, with audits and with governance structures but does not seem to be engaging with the survivors. I ask the Taoiseach to discuss this with the Minister to ensure she engages and meets with the survivors.

Sentiment score: 0.06