Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was very conscious of that. It was not due to start until later, but the other Bill finished two hours earlier.

The McElfatrick report is clearly a question of due process. That has just gone to the board. It involves staff, so there is a due process issue. I will take advice from the board on whether it should be made available for publication. There may be confidential material in it in regard to staffing issues.

The board has brought in an outside expert to examine the roster and see what improvements can be made.

In regard to Women's Aid, clearly the statistics are very disturbing. In reply to Deputies McLellan and Ó Caoláin, other Deputies and Senator van Turnhout, who raised this issue, the more organised the service in response to the increasing number of child abuse, child protection and child welfare referrals, the better the service we can give those very vulnerable children whose parents - very often the mother - are in a refuge or working with Women's Aid. It is important for us, the staff in the new child and family agency and the management team there to be very cognisant of the kind of research coming through in regard to those statistics and to look at what supports are available to the children in the local area where there is a refuge.

Other children will be in their own homes and it is a question of reaching out to those families.

I will ask Ms McLoughlin to speak about Síolta, Aistear and preschool education.