Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Shannon for an outstanding report. This is the third time we have had conversations since the report was launched. Hindsight and 20/20 vision are great things. If we had known some of the answers this morning we might have approached Tusla somewhat differently last week.

In her statement this morning the Minister said that there is a new inter-agency protocol reflecting the children first legislation and that it is awaiting sign-off by An Garda Síochána. I would welcome some commentary around that and what exactly needs to be done there.

In response to Senator Devine, Dr. Shannon mentioned 23 social care workers. Does this correspond to 23 divisions of An Garda Síochána where we are looking at doing the co-location? How will that come with the data protection and some of the problems that Dr. Shannon has encountered along the way? Do we have the systems in place and the communication between both organisations such that they can interact and use the same computer database? Even though we might not have an out-of-hours service, we have built up trust and knowledge. How do we access the information around the families? I believe that is a major part of it.

I was concerned to hear about the repeated removal of children from families. Once was acceptable but twice is unforgivable. What was the link with Tusla at that stage? When it becomes repeated, then all of a sudden a pattern is developing. Were people removed more than once? Were there instances where this was repeated? That is an interesting part of it because to me it shows that the system failed completely.

I thank Dr. Shannon for his openness and honesty in respect of the fact that he engaged with Tusla. While I know the report was commissioned by An Garda Síochána I was of the opinion that Tusla did not have a role to play because this was a report of An Garda Síochána and the force requested the audit to be carried out. Dr. Shannon has told us how, after the audit, he engaged with Tusla in November and December 2016. Tusla was aware of this before it came out. Has Tusla asked Dr. Shannon or invited Dr. Shannon to continue with the next section of it? Has that door been opened?

The report is outstanding. It is live and in-the-moment and we have 91 cases. Have we looked at any preventative measures other than those identified by Dr. Shannon? Has Tusla asked Dr. Shannon about aspects that it would like guidance with, for example, the structure of frameworks to be put in place?

There are aspects here on which we would like guidance, with structures and frameworks put in place. Can he continue with this work? It would be hugely important for me to understand that there is continuation, that this is the start of a scope of work where we have done the audit. However, it will be no good unless we have implementation and an action plan for that implementation.

While I welcome what the Minister highlighted this morning, I am worried about timeframes. In terms of what the Minister outlined this morning, Tusla is to have actioned something. What is Dr. Shannon's comment on manageable timeline expectations?

There is a national crisis around alcohol and drugs. Alcohol abuse was a key issue running through Dr. Shannon's report. What can this committee do about this? Does Dr. Shannon recommend we invite in the Minister for Health to discuss that central element? Are there other issues he feels we should highlight with the Minister? I thank Dr. Shannon again for his report. It was mind-blowing.