Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have been listening for the past hour and 15 minutes. What I have heard could be summed up as "dysfunctional". The current situation is absolutely unacceptable in the context of the protection of our vulnerable children. There is something rotten in it and there is something that vulnerable children we are meant to protect have to revisit again and again and again. The term "care erosion" comes to mind. I am interested in the relationship between HIQA and Tusla. I encountered a defensive attitude when I recently asked Tusla to take a clinical view in the assessment of a child, knowing that it involves the whole family or neighbourhood. There is a problem in terms of resources and culture. Does the witness believe Tusla is so dogged, weary of fire-fighting and under-resourced that it has developed a defensive culture that does not allow emotional care and attachment to its job of getting in, signing, sealing and delivering? Does the witness find there is a barrier to her being there when she meets with Tusla?