Katherine Zappone said that the decision to bring in mandatory reporting was the right one NIALL CARSON/PAMembers of the clergy are co-operating with mandatory reporting of child abuse, Katherine Zappone has said as the most recent figures showed a near-doubling of reports from priests and church workers. A total of 9,445 reports of alleged neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and physical abuse against children have been submitted to Tusla, the child and family agency, since legislation was enacted a year ago. The latest figures cover the first ten months of the new laws up to September and show a 20 per cent increase in reports to the agency on the previous year. Priests are “mandated” persons, obliged to report abuse concerns under the Children First Act 2015, but fears had been raised that they would refuse to co-operate with the legislation.…

Source: The Times December 29, 2018 00:02 UTC