Child Safeguarding Statement

IFI & Child Safeguarding

The IFI is committed to safeguarding all children and young people on our premises and/or engaging with our activities. Please see our Children Safeguarding Statement below. A copy of the IFI Child Safeguarding Statement can also be downloaded here.

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The Irish Film Institute Child Safeguarding Statement

The IFI is the national body for film in Ireland. Located in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, the remit of the organisation is to Exhibit, Preserve and Educate. We provide access to cultural cinema both at IFI and nationwide with exhibition partners and create opportunities for audiences to enjoy film and related programmes in our Dublin city venue.  

Under the core function of Educate, the IFI welcomes children, young people and families to engage with IFI activities through our extensive education programme. This programme comprises screenings, a family festival, workshops, and other film-based activities and incentives for young people. While membership of IFI and the main programme is over 18s, we offer incentives for 16 – 18 to attend IFI with proof of age and we curate programmes for children, families and young people especially, and according to age appropriacy. Our aim is to create an ambient, open and safe environment for all audiences to enjoy and where children and young people availing of our services are safe from ‘harm’. 

In providing for young audiences, the IFI is a relevant service for child safeguarding. As defined by the Children First Act (2015), this includes “Any work or activity which consists of the provision of— (a) educational, research, training, cultural, recreational, leisure, social or physical activities to children¹”. 

 

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What is Child Safeguarding?

Child Safeguarding is about protecting children from harm as defined by Children First2 and in our Child Safeguarding Policy3. IFI is committed to the equal protection of children from harm regardless of race, ability, ethnicity, or sexual orientation and to promoting their welfare. We are committed to creating an environment in which children and young people are enabled to grow, develop and achieve their full potential.  

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IFI & Child Safeguarding

The IFI is committed to safeguarding all children and young people on our premises and/or engaging with our activities.  

We define our principals for Child Safeguarding as follows: 

We aim to create a safe atmosphere of mutual respect, where all children and young people will have a positive, enjoyable experience in a shared cinema or workshop space.  

IFI Education programmes are curated according to age appropriacy, drawing on film classification guidelines or IFI Education Age Recommendations, based on international best practice. 

IFI staff who are regularly engaging directly with children and young people are Garda vetted and will undertake Tusla online Child Protection Training – Children First E-Learning. 

Facilitators / volunteers engaged by IFI Education will commit to our Child Safeguarding Statement and be familiar with our Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures.  

Our Child Safeguarding Procedures (2018) are fully compliant with the Children First Act (2015). The procedures are for all permanent, contract, and freelance staff, as well as volunteers, who engage with children and young people at IFI.  

Groups of children and/or young people up to age 16 attending IFI Education events will always be accompanied by an adult(s) both in and outside the screening spaces.  

Children under 12 are always accompanied by a parent/guardian/teacher when attending an IFI Family or Schools event or screening on IFI premises.  

Young people under 18 will not be served alcohol or will not be permitted to view films outside of their age range.  

Young people under 18 will not be employed by IFI for reasons of alcohol sales and potential late nights. 

Young people 16 -18 attending IFI independently with reduced price ticket will not be permitted to view films outside of their age range. 

Young people 16-18 signing up to IFI incentivised youth tickets will provide photo ID.  

Any child safeguarding or welfare concerns will be reported to Tusla/Gardaí in a timely manner. 

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Risk Assessment

We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm4 to a child while availing of our services. Below is a list of the areas of risk identified and the list of procedures for managing those risks. 

 

Risk Identified	Procedure in place to manage risk identified
Risk of harm to a child due to non-compliance with the IFI’s Child Safeguarding Procedures	Procedure in place to ensure all staff, facilitators and volunteers engaging directly with children are provided with the IFI Child Safeguarding Statement, which will be reviewed every 2 years.
Risk of harm to a child due to Incident of inappropriate behaviour by a member of staff, volunteer, contracted individual or intern, visitor or member of the public.	Procedures in place regarding recruitment of individuals who will engage with children, to include Garda vetting.   Procedures in place regarding volunteers, interns and all other persons who may engage directly with children.  Procedures in place regarding induction training for all individuals engaging directly with children.   Procedures in place for reporting to Designated Liaison Person or directly to Tusla
Risk of harm to a child due to a lack of supervision of children while on IFI premises or attending IFI event.	Procedures in place to ensure children are never left unsupervised attending events in IFI or at IFI partner events at appropriate ratio adult: child  Procedures in place to ensure Transition Year work placement students are never left unsupervised or required to carry out age-inappropriate tasks  16-18 year olds attending IFI independently will not be served alcohol in café bar
Risk of harm to a child 16-18 years of age attending IFI independently and accessing age appropriate films	Procedures in place to ensure all under 18s provide proof of age to avail of IFI incentivised ticketing or passes.
Risk of harm to a child through use of social media or online engagement in IFI contexts	All data on children including proof of age comes under IFI GDPR code of practice  Procedures in place to ensure usage of online engagement in IFI contexts is moderated.
Risk of bullying to a child by an older child/peer	Procedures in place to ensure adequate supervision of children at IFI events and reporting of bullying
Risk of harm to a child by use of unauthorised images or video in IFI contexts	Procedures in place to ensure Parental/guardian/teacher approval is secured before images of children at IFI events are posted on IFI website/social media

 

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Procedures

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements of the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance, and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. It operates in conjunction with our Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures. In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our service:  

• Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service 

 

• Procedure for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children 

 

• Training procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification of the occurrence of harm 

 

• Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla 

 

• Procedure for appointing a Relevant Person or Designated Liaison Person 

 

• Procedure for maintaining a list of Mandated persons on file.  

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Implementation

We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service.  

This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed every two years, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers. Next Review Date: July 2025 

 

Signatory of this Statement:  

Provider 

Ross Keane, Director/CEO  

IFI 6 Eustace St., Dublin 2.  

 

For queries in relation to this Child Safeguarding Statement, please contact: 

Relevant Person & Designated Liaison Person, Alicia McGivern, 01 6129466 amcgivern@irishfilm.ie  

Deputy Designated Liaison Person: Holly Furlong, 01 6795744 hfurlong@irishfilm.ie 

 

Footnotes:

1.For definition of child https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Children_First_National_Guidance_2017.pdf

2. https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Children_First_National_Guidance_2017.pdf

3. For definitions of harm, please see IFI Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures https://ifi.ie/child-safeguarding