Mr. Gordon Jeyes:

I welcome this opportunity to update the joint committee on the matters of concern which the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs shared with the select sub-committee regarding certain aspects of service provision in Laois and Offaly and the immediate actions taken. I will make a couple of points by way of general background before turning specifically to Laois-Offaly.

Since its inception, Tusla has been engaged in a process of consolidation of best Irish practice and reform and this has not been without its challenges. I would be doing all of my colleagues a disservice if I did not record at this committee the extremely challenging context in which they work with limited resources. I refer to front-line services, support for front-line service delivery and establishing a new agency. This is a new legal entity established from scratch.

Since it was established in January 2014, the key priorities for Tusla service delivery has been the implementation of the service delivery model and the implementation of the reform programme. These initiatives were designed to deliver greater consistency across Ireland and better quality service. As the process has been taken forward, the evidence shows that where the reform has been followed, the service has improved, confidence is up and the regulators note that. In the first instance, a single line of management has been developed for all services in order to ensure an integrated approach to child welfare and child protection. In tandem with this development, there has been the introduction of a system for the measurement of service activity in order to ensure a consistent national approach to services.

When the agency was launched, I said it was time to act. In respect of accountability, consistency and transparency, we are getting there but there is work to be done on the aspect of consistency. What I tell my colleagues is that I do not like the use of the term "waiting list" because it implies in people's minds that the length of time is all that matters. What is going on is much more sophisticated than that.

I have two other introductory observations. Following detailed consultation with staff and their trade union representatives, we decided there should be a single area-wide management structure covering the following areas: duty and intake, that is, the front door in terms of the information we receive; child protection and welfare; children in care; support for fostering; and family support. This model is based on the international best practice and designed to best suit the Irish context.