The “Advisory Committee” prescribed by the global (PSP Art. 9) and regional (RSP Art. 12-13) safeguarding policies of the Prelature is to comprise at least five persons, appointed by the Regional Vicar for a period of five years, which may be renewed.

While its functions relate primarily to advising the Regional Vicar on the management and preliminary investigation of safeguarding cases, it also has the responsibility to review and propose updates to safeguarding policies. Its role, therefore corresponds in substance to that of the Advisory Panel prescribed by the NBSCCCI Guidance but also includes some of the policy functions prescribed for the separate Safeguarding Committee in the same guidance. 

Given the ad casum nature of the Advisory Panel (and the special skills and experience which would be most relevant to its members), on the one hand, and the permanent oversight function of the Safeguarding Committee (and the distinct skills and experience which would be more relevant to its members), on the other, the functions of the Advisory Committee will be fulfilled by two separate bodies in the Local Safeguarding Policy for Ireland (LSP-I): 

• a permanent Safeguarding Committee, following the NBSCCCI Guidance, and 

• a separate Advisory Panel, also following the NBSCCCI Guidance, which will be convoked ad casum when required. 

The membership of the Advisory Panel may overlap with that of the Safeguarding Committee. In each body, the majority will be lay faithful, men and women. They must be people of exemplary conduct and sound judgment. The chairperson will be a priest of the Prelature with several years of pastoral experience and sound judgment. As far as possible, among the members of the Advisory Panel in particular there should be professionals of the following disciplines: canon law (cf. RSP Art. 50 and Can. 1718 §3 CIC), criminal or civil law, psychology, moral theology, or ethics. At least one member in each body should have experience in dealing with the abuse or mistreatment of minors.

The Safeguarding Committee (and the Advisory Panel when convoked)  shall meet as often as necessary to fulfill their functions in accordance with a programme established by the chairperson, and in any case whenever the Vicar convenes them. There is no objection to the regional Vicar asking a member of his Regional Councils to attend the meetings of the Safeguarding Committee or the Advisory Panel.

The Safeguarding Committee shall:

• develop a three-year child safeguarding plan, including the local safeguarding policy and procedures;

• coordinate Local Safeguarding Committees and Local Safeguarding Representatives (LSRs) in the relevant centres of the Prelature in Ireland;

• coordinate activities related to child safeguarding, e.g. training; 

• ensure the annual audit, including the correlation of records for training-related activities;

• ensure the completion of training needs assessments across the various child safeguarding roles in the Prelature in Ireland;

• ensure,  with the Regional Vicar, that the appropriate child safeguarding personnel are in place;

• immediately inform the Safeguarding Coordinator or his Deputy about any notitia de delicto which the Safeguarding Committee (or any of its members) might receive, concerning possible abuses in which the faithful of the Region may be implicated.

The Advisory Panel, once convoked by the Regional Vicar in a case of alleged child abuse, shall:

• subject to the requirements of civil and canon law, advise him on the evaluation of a notitia de delicto when there are manifest doubts about its plausibility;

• advise him on all stages of a preliminary investigation (without displacing his canonical responsibility);

• advise him, or the person carrying out the preliminary investigation - when he or she considers it necessary - on questions within their competence that might arise during the proceedings. In such cases, consultations will be made without revealing identities or disclosing personal details which are not strictly necessary;

• offer an opinion in specific cases, if the Vicar - while safeguarding privacy and maintaining a due reserve about identities and non-essential details - so requests, 

  • 1. on possible forms of assistance, 

    2. on pastoral and professional guidance of the persons concerned (including the victim and the person accused or under investigation), 

    3. on ways of providing such persons with medical and social assistance, 

    4. on making them aware of their rights and how to exercise them, 

    5. on facilitating their recourse to the appropriate authorities, and 

    6. on protecting their reputation and privacy, etc., 

always taking into account the opinion and needs of the persons concerned. 

• advise him on the appropriateness in each case of applying some of the provisional measures foreseen in RSP Art. 35 §4;

• keep a record of all of its recommendations to the Regional Vicar.