The introduction of continuous screening among daycare staff and official childminders led to some 80 people losing their jobs in the first year, social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher has told parliament.

The minister is introducing new legislation on screening people who work with children in the wake of the Amsterdam daycare centre sex abuse scandal.

Creche worker Robert Mikelsons was arrested in December 2010 for abusing dozens of young children and babies in his care. After admitting 83 offences, he was jailed for 19 years in 2013.

The screening of all daycare centre staff began in March 2013. All 35,000 workers have been required to provide their employer with an official certificate of good behaviour (VOG) and are now included on an official register of daycare centre staff and childminders.

Partners

During the first year, when the system was still being developed, 82 people were flagged up. They either worked directly with children or were involved in the daycare centre in some way, the minister said in documents accompanying the draft legislation.

‘In almost all cases, this led to the person involved no longer working in childcare or, in the case of a partner of a child minder, no longer being present at the location where children were being cared for,’ Asscher said.

The results show that continuous screening does contribute to a safer environment for children, the minister concludes.