Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

I would of course be delighted to be the person to oversee it. I guarantee the committee that, as those around the table know, I will give an honest account. Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable. Nonetheless, I would not be doing the State any service by sugar coating any of the messages. I have been around long enough to know that reports gather dust in a large number of situations. We cannot afford for this to happen on this occasion. The issues raised in the audit are hugely significant and strike at the heart of our child protection system. As the Vice Chairman said, we need timely and meaningful implementation of the recommendations. It cannot just be a box-ticking exercise. When I looked at interagency co-operation I did so with a very neutral eye. When I started to unpick it, what I found again and again is it was tokenistic. It was about filling in a form and passing it on and the box has been ticked. This is just not good enough for children. Certainly from my review of section 12, and I have not done a section 13 review, we need agencies to move out of their silos and work together. The report shines a light on the fact this is not happening. It is not just Tusla or An Garda Síochána. It is also about mental health services.

The points raised this morning are equally valid. Children need a cohesive service. They cannot be pushed from agency to agency. The advantage of co-location is all of the services that children need would be located in one place. This commends itself to a good sense. It requires a complete rethink as to how we deal with child protection. It would be an exciting project for the committee to undertake. At present, discrete issues are dealt with as they arise. I am calling for fundamental reform of our child protection system, which would bring about the cultural change required. If that does not happen we will be back here in four or five years' time with quite a similar report and we will all be outraged. As I said, and it was picked up on, after the outrage must come meaningful action.