Child Safeguarding Statement - National Disability Authority

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The NDA is committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of children while they are participating in activities conducted by, or on behalf of, the NDA.
Occasionally, the NDA conducts research, consultations and educational activities with disabled and non-disabled children either directly or through a contracted organisation.
The NDA’s Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the following:
Child safeguarding involves ensuring safe practice and appropriate responses by employees to concerns about the safety or welfare of children, including online concerns, should these arise. The NDA has developed a suite of policies and procedures to support the implementation of our commitment to safeguarding children.
Our Child Safeguarding Statement can be read or downloaded below.
The National Disability Authority (NDA, 25 Clyde Road, Dublin, D04 E409) is the independent statutory body with a duty to provide evidence-informed advice and guidance to Government on disability policy and practice and the application of Universal Design.
The NDA has approximately 55 FTE staff who work across the three departments of Policy, Research and Public Affairs, Corporate Services and the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design and Standards and Monitoring.
The NDA is committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of children while they are participating in activities conducted by, or on behalf of, the NDA. The NDA Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the following:
Child safeguarding is about protecting the child from harm and promoting their welfare. In doing so this creates an environment which enables children and young people to grow, develop and achieve their full potential. Child safeguarding involves ensuring safe practice and appropriate responses by employees to concerns about the safety or welfare of children, including online concerns, should these arise. Protecting children from harm requires processes and procedures that give children a voice, listens to that voice, empowers children to act or acts on their behalf.
The NDA is also committed to protecting the data rights of children and complying with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The policies and procedures outlined in this Child Safeguarding Statement apply to all staff and interns working in the NDA, Authority members and any person performing any role or function in or on behalf of the NDA. The majority of contractors or grantees used by the NDA will have their own Child Safeguarding Statements. Those who do not will be required to comply with the NDA child safeguarding policies and procedures. Those who have their own Statement must provide assurance to the NDA that their policies and procedures comply with the legislation listed above.
The Statement will be linked to in any participation information leaflets for children or their parents or guardian that are shared in advance of research or consultations.
The standard definition of a child is someone under the age of 18 years. However, when considering consent to participate in research the NDA adopts the definition of a child set out in the HSE National Policy for Consent in Health and Social Care Research and the definition of certain adolescents as ‘young people’. Relevant definitions from the HSE National Policy for Consent in Health and Social Care Research are outlined below:
In 2025 the HSE amended the policy to clarify issues around young people’s capacity to consent. The policy advises that the capacity of young people (age 16-17) to consent should be assumed. It is essential to encourage and facilitate the young person to participate as fully as possible in decision-making. It is considered good practice to involve parent(s) or legal guardian(s) in the decision-making process, provided the young person agrees to this involvement. If the young person prefers, their parent or legal guardian can provide consent. A young person’s capacity should not be called into question, and assessments of capacity should not be performed, without a good reason. If a young person is found to lack capacity to consent, their parent or legal guardian may give consent on their behalf until the young person reaches 18 years of age.
Under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 the NDA are not considered a relevant organisation. Therefore, the NDA finds alternative ways to ensure that staff engaging with children are Garda vetted where relevant. This may be through a third-party organisation such as the HSE.
NDA staff who are required to undergo Garda Vetting as part of their role are obliged to do so. They must accurately and completely disclose requested information during the process of Garda Vetting. Within the NDA, Garda Vetting is only valid for three years. Those acting on behalf of the NDA e.g. contracted researchers will need to provide evidence of having valid Garda Vetting.
Staff who make disclosures about suspected child abuse or neglect are protected by relevant legislation, including the Protection for Persons Reporting Child Abuse Act,1998. This provides for the protection from civil liability of persons who have communicated child abuse or neglect ‘reasonably and in good faith’ to Tusla and/or An Garda Síochána. Staff should know that they are always correct to raise reasonable concerns, even if these are not validated in a subsequent Tusla assessment or Garda investigation, and the NDA always encourages responsible action.
Occasionally, the NDA conducts research, consultations and educational activities with disabled and non-disabled children either directly or through a contracted organisation.
The NDA regularly engages with disabled people to ensure the advice and guidance we provide to Government is informed by their lived experience. This research and consultation process can include