Following a meeting of Bishops in Maynooth on Jan 23, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews issued an invitation to Archbishop of Armagh Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin to meet him on Jan 24 to discuss the safeguarding of children and society’s responsibility to this critically important matter.

The meeting took place in the Department of Health and Children in Dublin, and the following statement was issued:

"Minister Andrews welcomed the outcome of the Bishops’ special meeting on Safeguarding Children, which was held yesterday in Maynooth. In particular, Minister Andrews welcomed

• the Bishops’ renewed commitment to providing all of the information in Section 5 of the HSE audit;
• the Bishops’ statement to sign a written commitment to implement the new safeguarding and guidance materials of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church;
• the Bishops' review of current practice and risk in the safeguarding of children within their dioceses.
  

"In the light of agreement by all present to separate the completion of Section 5 of the HSE audit from issues of soft information, which all accepted present legal difficulties, it was agreed that a fresh mechanism would be found to enable Bishops to provide the information that had been requested in the HSE Audit, Section 5.

"The meeting also discussed the potential for statutory and voluntary authorities to strengthen cooperation, within the State and at an all-Ireland level, in the best interest of child protection.

"Cardinal Brady, Archbishop Martin and Minster Andrews agreed that further meetings would be convened to process important issues concerning the safeguarding of children." (Source: OMC)