For the purposes of the Garda Síochána Boat Club Safeguarding plan – its Policies, templates and guidance notes - the following terms are given the stated meaning:

·      Administrators: While Governing Body and Club administrators may not be actively involved in children’s sport, they may be involved in organising activities and events.

·      Assistants: Assistants are those people who provide back-up to any of the roles with the sport of rowing, even if only on an intermittent basis. (e.g. provision of lifts to competitions; checking equipment, etc.).

·      Capacity: Refers to the ability of a vulnerable adult to make a decision at a particular time, for example when under considerable stress. The starting assumption must always be that a person has the capacity to make a decision unless it can be established that they lack capacity.

·      Child: For the purpose of this guidance a child is any person under 18 years of age unless they are or have been married (Child Care Act 1991)

·      Club Children’s Officers (CCO): Children’s Officers are appointed within Clubs to act as a resource for children and to represent them at Committee level. The CCO will also be the Designated Liaison person (DLP) and the Relevant Person.

·      Club/Organisation Officers: President, Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Committee members are appointed to oversee club activities and the development of the club/organisation.

·      Coach/Trainer: A coach is a person who assists a young participant to develop his or her skills and abilities in a progressive way.

·      Consent is a clear indication of a willingness to participate in an activity or to accept a service. An adult at risk or vulnerable adult may signal consent verbally, by gesture, by willing participation or in writing. Decisions with more serious consequences will require more formal consideration of consent and appropriate steps should be taken to ensure consent is valid. No one can give, or withhold, consent on behalf of another adult unless special provision for particular purposes has been made for this, usually in law.

·      Designated Liaison Person (DLP): A person who is responsible for ensuring the reporting procedures are followed. At Governing Body level, the DLP may be the same person as the National Children’s Officer. The DLP will be a resource to anyone in Garda Síochána Boat Club who has a child safeguarding concern. At Club level the Children’s Officer will be the DLP – i.e. responsible for ensuring the Club follows reporting procedures.

·      Instructor /Teacher / Coach: are involved in the systematic development of the core skills and abilities of an activity, sometimes in a non-competitive context.

·      Manager: A manager is an individual who takes overall responsibility for a team or a group of sports people and who may often have a direct input into the nature and organisation of the activity itself.

·      Mandated Person: The Mandated Person is a person named under schedule 2 of Children First Act 2015 and the Mandated Person has a mandated obligation to report harm or risk of harm to children to the Statutory Agencies.

·      Mentor: A mentor is an individual who undertakes an overseeing role with a group of participants under 18 years of age, often in co-operation with other mentors.

·      National Children’s Officer (NCO): The National Children’s Officer should be a member of the Committee or have access to the Committee and its accompanying documents, to ensure that children’s interests are kept on the Agenda and influence the decisions of the Governing Body.

·      Official: An official is an individual charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the rules of an activity are adhered to in a formal way. This category includes referees, judges, umpires, etc.

·      Relevant Person: As defined in the Children First Act 2015, this means a person who is appointed by a provider (Garda Síochána Boat Club) of a relevant service to be the first point of contact in respect of the provider’s (Garda Síochána Boat Club) Child Safeguarding Statement. At Club level the Relevant person will be the Children’s Officer – to be the first point of contact regarding the Club’s Child Safety Statement.

·      Selector: A selector is an individual who has responsibility for the selection of participants under 18 years of age for teams and events.

·      Statutory Authorities: The authorities who promote the protection and welfare of young people and who have the responsibility for the investigation and/or validation of suspected child abuse, i.e. Tusla and An Garda Síochána.

·      Sports Leaders: For the purpose of this guidance all adults involved in children’s sport are referred to as Sports Leaders. All have a role to play in ensuring that procedures as described in this policy are put in place, agreed, followed and reviewed on a regular basis.

·      Vulnerable Person: means vulnerable people aged 18 or over and includes older people, people with a learning, physical or sensory disability and people with mental illness or dementia.

In recent years in the UK there has been a marked shift away from using the term ‘vulnerable’ to describe adults potentially at risk from harm or abuse. To assist working through and understanding this a number of key definitions need to be explained.

Adult at risk of harm: is a person aged 18 or over, whose exposure to harm through abuse, exploitation or neglect may be increased by their:

a.      Personal characteristics which may include, but are not limited to, age, disability, special educational needs, illness, mental or physical frailty or impairment of, or disturbance in, the functioning of the mind or brain.

AND/OR

b.     Life circumstances which may include, but are not limited to, isolation, socio-economic factors and environmental living conditions.

Adult in need of protection: is a person aged 18 or over, whose exposure to harm through abuse, exploitation or neglect may be increased by their:

a.     Personal characteristics AND/OR

b.     Life circumstances AND

c.     Who is unable to protect their own well-being, property, assets, rights or other interests; AND

d.     Where the action or inaction of another person or persons is causing, or is likely to cause, him/her to be harmed

Vulnerable Groups includes all Children and young people, and all Vulnerable Persons, as defined above.