Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. The Minister might indicate the status of filling the vacant Secretary General position in his Department.

Regarding the issue of the mother and baby homes inquiry, I believe that everyone of us would be disappointed that the terms of reference have not been finalised, that the commission has not been established and that the work is under way. However, I will add that I would much rather that the terms of reference were right and inclusive and that all of the required preparatory work was done and done properly. Therefore, I can be patient. I expect that every effort is being made to expedite this process and I have to take what the Minister says on face value. I note in his reply to my Question No. 22, also submitted by Deputy Clare Daly and with a shared response, that he talks about the work of developing the terms of reference now being well advanced and that he will finalise his deliberations in early course. I respectfully ask the Minister to give the committee a sense as to when he expects to have finality, when he expects to go to Cabinet and when he will then come before the Houses with regard to the establishment of the commission and its terms of reference.

I refer to the appointment of Judge Yvonne Murphy as chair of the independent investigation. The Minister may not wish to elaborate on some of the detail that I will ask of him and I will leave it to himself to respond. I wish to record my strong support for the establishment of a commission of investigation that was made up of a number of expert panellists, not only Judge Murphy. I ask the Minister to comment if it is indeed intended to have a wider number of people than a single appointee, as has happened in some of the tribunals in the past.

I am keenly aware of and have strenuously emphasised to the Minister and his predecessors the importance of including the Bethany homes, the Magdalen laundries and the county homes. I am respectful of what the Minister may not yet be in a position to confirm but I ask him to expand on his intentions in relation to inclusiveness. I ask if he would be in a position to advise if he has completed the further round of engagements with a number of non-governmental organisations, specifically the Adoption Rights Alliance, the representatives of the bodies I have just mentioned, the Bethany homes and the Magdalen laundries and others we have discussed recently. What progress has the Minister made with regard to those engagements?

It is very important that we get to a starting point where we can all properly record our full support for the process that will be set in train. I assure the Minister it is my intention - if what he will present ticks those boxes - to be fully supportive. That is always my disposition in relation to matters not only in this regard, but right across the board. I hope that there will not be any need or cause for any discontent. However, far more important than any discontent that I could voice would be the discontent of those who would feel excluded and marginalised, thus compounding a hurt and pain that they have endured historically. It is on their behalf that I make this further appeal to the Minister and his officials.

I have no hesitation in acknowledging that both the Minister and his officials are, in my view, doing all that they have to do. I wish to record my appreciation of the meetings we have had and of those with his predecessors and with his departmental representatives. This is the spirit in which we are approaching this task.

I refer to the Minister's response to Question No. 21 regarding the serious under-provision of social workers for children deemed at risk and those in State care. I note his corrected reply to Deputy Seamus Healy regarding the appointment of 130 social workers since the establishment of the Child and Family Agency. Has the service lost social workers in that period? Is it a net gain of 130 social workers? Are some of the additional 193 posts yet to be advertised? I would hope that there is the widest possible awareness of the opportunity to take up social work positions with the Child and Family Agency. I ask the media reporting on this committee to take the opportunity to signal that there are vacancies for social work positions. I would wish that it would be greater than the 193 signalled as further additional posts currently on offer to candidates.

The Minister has confirmed 9,548 cases waiting to be allocated a dedicated social worker and approximately one third of these - 3,240 cases - were deemed to be high priority. Since we last met and since we last addressed these quite disturbing statistics, we have had the tragic situation of the death of young Hassan Khan, a two year old boy. I do not know who within the Child and Family Agency was directly involved but I would be absolutely confident that the young boy's case was known to Tusla employees, including, I expect, social workers, and that those who were exposed to his story prior to his tragic death would be hugely upset. I am very conscious of their upset and I will not now or in the future contribute to a compounding of their upset. However, it is very important that we have some understanding of the extent of that engagement. We need to know because it is only through knowledge that we will learn the deficiencies within the system. Had young Hassan Khan a dedicated social worker? Will Mr. Jeyes expand on his public commentary which is very minute, thus far? An indication of working with the investigative body is absolutely what we would expect but as a committee and as elected voices who are directly engaged in health and children issues, we have a responsibility to be able to apprise the effectiveness of the systems we have put in place.

If the witnesses are not in a position to shed further light on the extent of the engagement with the young child, I ask that they would undertake to have the information regarding the case brought to the attention of members of the committee. I respectfully request that it could be done at the earliest opportunity.