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Inclusion Ireland and AsIAm Call for Urgent Review of Reporting Mechanism for the Use of Restraint in Schools
Children’s Rights Absent, Voices Silenced
(Issued Sunday 19 January 2025) Inclusion Ireland and AsIAm will launch a campaign for a child-protection led review of the reporting mechanism for the use of restraint in Irish schools prior to it coming into force in September. The campaign follows the publication of the Department of Education's long-promised guidelines on the issue, "Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations in Schools," which were issued in December.
Autistic children and children with intellectual disabilities frequently experience restraint in Irish classrooms in a context in which there is no mandatory training or robust, child-centred safeguards. The new guidelines have created a reporting mechanism for schools to the National Council for Special Education. However, this agency has no powers of investigation and, as such, the guidelines conflict with the Children’s First Act and Ireland’s international human rights obligations.
The campaign launch will take place with an event at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. Titled "Seclusion and Restraint in Irish Schools: Campaign for a Children's Rights-Focused Review of National Guidelines" participants will call for a national conversation on what needs to change to make the guidelines more rights based to protect children from harm.
Inclusion Ireland and AsIAm welcome certain elements of the guidelines, such as the outright ban on the use of seclusion, but they fall far short of protecting children from harm. The guidelines do not require schools to mandate training for teachers, secure parental consent prior to the application of restraint, nor are school-level policies or compliance inspections by the Department included in the framework.
For many years, our organisations and communities have highlighted the use of inappropriate restraint in Irish schools. A snap survey by our organisations last year found 27% of respondents had experienced restraint within the classroom. These traumatic incidents often take place in scenarios where children with disabilities, communication and support needs are misunderstood, where schools are under resourced and where insufficient training and safeguards are in place. These practises have seen children experience unexplained injuries, endure major trauma and distress and have their movements unlawfully restricted.
When families raise concerns in relation to the use of restraint, they are often referred to Schools Complaints Procedure which sees a school investigate itself, as opposed to appropriately referring the safeguarding concern to Tusla, as is required by Children’s First legislation. In recent years, a number of prominent cases relating to restraint have been brought before the courts and statutory bodies, including the Teaching Council.
This event provides an opportunity to look at the guidelines through the lens of domestic and international law covenants and will feature expert speakers with legal, educational and social care expertise and to highlight the steps which can be taken by the new Government to rectify the guidelines shortfalls before schools are mandated to operate the reporting mechanism in the new academic year.
Inclusion Ireland and AsIAm will be joined by Caoilfhionn Gallagher, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection and the Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon, who will provide keynote contributions. The event will also hear from a panel discussion with key experts. Comments from the various event speakers will be circulated to media following the event on Monday 29th January.
We are urging the Minister for Education and Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion to instigate an independent child protection review of the guidelines and the reporting mechanism on the use of seclusion and restraint in schools.
AsIAm and Inclusion Ireland will invite families and stakeholders to sign up to the campaign and call on their public representatives to take action. The organisations will also announce the appointment of an international legal team who will consider the actions which can be taken, domestically and internationally, to challenge the legality of the reporting mechanism.
Adam Harris, CEO of AsIAm said, “We have serious concerns that the guidelines published last month are insufficient, unclear and inadequate. It is simply unacceptable for the Department to put in place a reporting mechanism which is, by design, incapable of proactively safeguarding children. The National Council for Special Education will receive potentially large volumes of anonymised data relating to child safeguarding and yet has no formal pathway to Tusla, the appropriate national agency for such concerns. These guidelines will continue to see schools investigate themselves whilst the Department fails to be proactive and vindicate its public sector duty to uphold human rights and promote equality. Today, Autistic children are out of school, experiencing unexplained injury or deeply traumatised by past experiences of restraint. These guidelines will not prevent this reality continuing.”
Derval McDonagh, CEO of Inclusion Ireland states: “When we need to talk about the seclusion and restraint of children in our schools, we know that something has gone desperately wrong in our society. Inclusion Ireland has been calling for robust guidance for schools for many years now. Whilst we welcome some elements of the guidelines, it is clear that they do not go far enough to protect and safeguard children from abuse. We know from recent surveys that many children are experiencing these harmful practices; the lack of children's rights-based training and resources for schools is a critical gap. We also know that when a child is restrained, there has to be a system of oversight and governance which is completely lacking in these guidelines. We urge our Ministers to call halt and to listen to the voices of children and their families who are demanding better. These guidelines need to be reviewed and amended, through the prism of children's rights and safeguarding.”
