From: Derek Kinsella <derek_kinsella@hotmail.com>
Date: 11 December 2018 at 18:00:40 GMT
To: Derek Kinsella <derek_kinsella@hotmail.com>
Subject: NB ***County Commissioner's meeting with the Board of directors of Scouting Ireland last night***

FAO Group Leaders and County Officers -for you to communicate with your groups

Hi all,

There was a meeting called last night for County Commissioners with the Board of Directors and Staff members. There were 5 board members there and 4 staff members. The board wanted to inform CC's of the situation and that we could pass it on to our groups. This is better than reading about it in the papers. Aisling Kelly chaired the meeting.

We are in a very serious situation and the abuse numbers have risen. There have been 126 calls with 317 victims and 202 alleged perpetrators. All the calls have been to do with our previous associations (CBSI and SAI). Most of the cases have been between the 60's and the 90's however some cases have been more modern. There have also been cases within the timeframe of the current SI organisation.

There is evidence of systematic sexual abuse of children that happened in our organisation. There has also been evidence of cover ups and abusers moving from group to group. The abuse has been in all counties, in all parts of Ireland, across all sections. This meeting was not the place to go into any more detail on this and specifics were not mentioned.

The Safeguarding team has increased in numbers and there are 8 staff members. All victims calling the safeguarding team are listened to and apologised to.  They are then offered support and counselling. The safeguarding team are a professional team.  However, the safeguarding team are under resourced and under-staffed and will require money to sustain themselves and the service. They will require €350,000+ a year. This could be obtained via increasing registration fee by €10+ or by borrowing off groups. It is also unlikely that we will receive rebates this year on a group or County level. Scouting Ireland could also look into the selling of assets.

If victims are going to seek litigation then costs are going to accumulate to very large amounts and run into millions. This could mean that Scouting Ireland will look into selling assets including dens that are in the Scout trust. This is a worst case scenario but it is not beyond the possibilities depending on accruing costs. All victims need to be supported.

With respect to trustees of groups and liability, as we are not registered with the Charities Regulator yet, this is not an issue. Trustee insurance will be in place when we register with the CRA. The level of cover will differ for individual groups.

Board members pointed out that they have received a fair amount of criticism over Social media and we should all be mindful of what we post online especially as it could be liable. Social media can be a wonderful resource and a great place to share information for Scouters and youth members but can also be a source of pain for members that are being attacked.

There is a new disciplinary policy in place and we need to develop support for GL's and CC's into ascertaining the suitability of adults for being a Scouter in SI.
Our current safeguarding is far better than what it was back in the past and we need to reiterate that to our members and parents. We need them to know that their children are safe. We also need to support ourselves and help each other out. It was pointed out last night that the day-to-day phone calls to the safeguarding team has gone down as people think they are only for "serious" issues. This is not the case and anyone at any time can ring the safeguarding team looking for advise on anything no matter how trivial they think it is. Also there are counselling numbers available for any Scouter that needs it.

These are tough times but we will still do Scouting, we will still have meetings in our dens and the youth members in our care will have the best Scouting experience they can get. I am very proud of all the groups in 3 Rock and how we work as a County. In positive news, Tim Kenny from Kilmacud and Ailbhe McCourt from Balally attended the Provincial forum last Sunday and were elected Provincial reps. This is fantastic. Working with the young people in 3 Rock County is a privilege as I see them getting engaged with County programme, with strong views on Scouting and with confidence to speak their mind (even at a National Council).

I would like you to talk to all Scouters in your group about this and the situation we face, but also how great a job everyone is doing in the mean time. It is not easy reading the paper and seeing more negative reports about scouting Ireland, it is not easy to think that Scouters in the past abused children in our association and that is was covered up. All we can do now is keep our head up high and carry on Scouting and make sure the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

I would be open to getting together and discussing these issues (with ALL interested Scouters in the County) on Sunday 16th of December. I suggest 3pm to 5pm in Kilmacud Scout den. Or I will be there until 8pm as Scouts, Venture Scouts and Rovers are getting together to discuss County programme, so if you would like to talk to me face to face I would welcome that too. In any case, feel free to ring me at any time to discuss or ask questions and I will do my best to answer. You can also email or WhatsApp. I encourage you to ask questions as I will be going to a Provincial meeting next Monday, 17th of December, and I can bring your questions/comments to the Province.

Yours in scouting

Derek
0876567895