Mr. Gordon Jeyes:

I would also add that the work on shared services has progressed well. The work we do through health business services, on which Mr. Smyth leads, is going well, as is payroll and processing. There is much more of a customer orientation and Tusla is treated as a customer the same way a hospital group or community health partnership would be.

The next issue raised by Deputy Troy concerned registration and regulation for the early years scheme and how long it has taken. While I want to say I agree with everything the Minister and his departmental officials will say this afternoon, this is a matter for them. The timing of the introduction of the regulations and the registration system is an issue for the Department. My understanding is that it will be introduced at the end of the first quarter but the Department can answer the Deputy's critique this afternoon.

I understand that there is an impression that we consider grants less important, but that is not the case. This year we invested €142 million in various outsourced services. We do this because they are more flexible, closer to the community and can provide value for money. These services have been more vulnerable to reductions during the recession because we have had to focus on the core issues of child protection and school attendance, for example.

We need to have a review of family resource centres. The work in many of these centres is outstanding but there will be a review because there have been many changes since they were first established more than a decade ago. Some of them face enormous pressure, not least from new multi-ethnic Ireland, and do a terrific job. For others, perhaps, the demands are now not so great. There was no reduction in 2015 and there will not be a reduction in 2016 but we need to examine their effectiveness and the support and contribution they make. We are having detailed discussions with them on the contribution they will make when we deal with refugee resettlement.

In 2015, Tusla spent more on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence than it did in the previous year. I accept that part of the criticism, which is correct, is that we are slow to conclude discussions. The business of concluding discussions regarding our service plan took too long last year. This has been acknowledged and we need to ensure we get in and have constructive discussions with the Department and the Minister. Although there were no reductions, I hear there were some movements within the budget to ensure we were getting a better spread of services and that people who were being abused were getting a response.

Deputy Ó Caoláin spoke about recruitment and it was raised at a later point of the session. Along with ICT, it was one of the biggest issues arising from our consultation. It was clear there were reservations about the way in which the national recruitment service worked. It was designed for a particular time and everyone in the health service and the children's service sees its need for reform. We also seek to add pressure to that reform by setting up Tusla Recruit in order that we can find ways of speeding up the process and that every social work vacancy is filled in the fastest possible time.

We now have a clear database and, during the summer and autumn, I was open and clear in stating that, on our present budget, we could not deal with the issues identified by our quality review of unallocated cases. I accept the Deputy's points that it is unacceptable and we need to examine this further. I hear very clearly his correct listing of what is high risk. Decisions are made within that because the 5,585 figure includes the 1,087 high-risk cases. Some of these categories would be attended to and all are reviewed while awaiting a fuller assessment. We need to get better at this and I fully expect, through intervention strategies and additional resources in the region of €6 million, to make considerable progress and there should not be an issue with unallocated cases by 2017. As an agency, we got to the stage of being able to state the case objectively and clearly and the Government has responded, which is welcome.

Discussions continue within the Department about psychology and I will have further discussions with the national director for primary care in this regard. I would be derelict in my duties if I did not mention these issues although I am conscious that I have been here, said it and done it before. It remains unresolved and we need to conclude it.

I have covered the issues raised by Deputy Ó Caoláin regarding aftercare. There will be a plan for each child. As a society, we need to look out for those who are particularly vulnerable, being those who are not in education or learning or training programmes. Ireland's statistics for that cohort are very impressive. The support provided to them, either through grants, SUSI or ourselves, is very good. The countries of the United Kingdom are only now catching up with the notion that children who remain in education should be allowed to stay in foster care. This has always been the practice in Ireland and is something that should be celebrated.

It was no surprise to me to come to the end of my contract. Age catches up with us all. There is no more of a story to it. We have been involved in an improvement journey. When I first arrived I said I hoped to bring some evidence-based impatience. The task has been onerous and the workload huge, and much of the success of Tusla has been generated through the enormous effort, willpower and goodwill of staff.

It is interesting to put the members' challenge together with observations made later about the difficulties we have in creating consistency. Consistency is based on best Irish practice and debate. Sometimes there are issues within the workforce. There can be some sort of wish to translate consistency as meaning doing something the way I or we, in a certain parish, do it. We consult rigorously. I met the area managers monthly, as does Mr. McBride now. We consult at a level unheard of under any previous regime. When we consulted on how the structure was working, we had meetings throughout the country that involved comments from and direct interaction with more than 25% of the workforce. We also used social media to get their views.

In terms of creating a modern, accountable organisation, we stand for accountability and personal responsibility. This has been a time of considerable change and there is always resistance to change. We are creating a culture of consequences and a culture where staff are valued and respected. We often speak of the values and, more important, how we translate these values into behaviours.

I hear the points being made about a number of people and I regret the way they are made. I am a very accessible chief executive and any issue can be drawn to my attention or that of the director of human resources if it involves me. I would describe the culture we are seeking to create as one of high challenge and high support. It is both of these and this is appropriate for the organisation. I do not, for a moment, duck the issue that we have been doing that in pressurised circumstances. There has been the pressure of a financial crisis that was not of the staff's making. At the same time, we were challenged by the Government to improve services for children.

There are plenty of opportunities for staff to raise individual concerns which are investigated thoroughly and independently. We have made progress in that regard in becoming a modern organisation and I reject the way the Deputy characterised it.

Senator van Turnhout mentioned psychology. We have been given legislative responsibility and it remains within primary care, which is the most important referral route because it is accessible to all but we want to make sure we are developing psychology, for the reasons the Senator mentioned, for all families. Further developments would not be good if we finished up with responsibility for psychology for the children in difficulties while for the “nice” children there was another service. The legislation has given us that responsibility and the Departments need to sort out how we can provide that universal service.