Child Safeguarding Statement
The Children First Act 2015 requires organisations that are providers of ‘relevant services’ to publish a child safeguarding statement, schedule 1 of the Act provides a list of work or activities that constitute a relevant service.
This statement details the relevant services provided by Iarnród Éireann to children and the principles and procedures in place to ensure, as far as practicable, that a child availing of these services is safe from harm. The statement will be reviewed every two years or sooner if there has been a material change in any of the services to which it refers.
- Relevant services provided by Iarnród Éireann
- Apprentice training programme
- Transition year placement programme
- Principles to safeguard children from harm
Iarnród Éireann through its apprenticeship scheme and transition Year programme offers training and work experience to children as defined by the Children First Act 2015. For the former this is training in the area of skilled/craft work and for the latter to gain knowledge through our work experience programme.
Keeping our apprentices and transition students safe in Iarnród Éireann is of utmost importance and is central to the organisations ethos of providing a positive working environment for all. To this end Iarnród Éireann is committed to providing and developing a safe working environment for these students.
Iarnród Éireann staff and its contractors recognise they have a responsibility to ensure that the children in our care are safeguarded against harm and to support their welfare and development in line with our company ethos and best practice.
- Risk Assessment
We have completed an assessment of the potential harm to these apprentices and students while they access training and education in Iarnród Éireann. In support of this assessment Iarnród Éireann will;
- Display the child safeguarding policy on our SharePoint webpage
- Display the child safeguarding statement on Iarnród Éireann’s public website
- Issue all staff copies of the child safeguarding policy
- Ensure that the child safeguarding policy will form part of the organisations induction training
- Where applicable staff will be required to successfully complete Tusla’s Children First E-learning programme
In addition to our risk assessment Iarnród Éireann has policies and procedures in support of our responsibility to all our employees including apprentices and transition year students in our organisation.
- Iarnród Éireann policy handbook on dignity and respect at work
- Iarnród Éireann policy handbook on equality and diversity
[1]Children First Act 2015 has the same meaning it has in the Child Act 1991: “Child” means a person under the age of 18 years other than a person who is or has been married.