Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

I will address the questions one by one. The first one was on confidence in the PULSE system. PULSE documents information as it arises. It is hugely important that we have confidence in the integrity of the information placed on the PULSE system. That can only happen where we have mandatory fields where every garda must fill in set fields of data. That has to be a mandatory requirement because that gives us an on-the-spot understanding as to the event as it unfolds. That is the reason I have outlined in appendix 6 a very detailed framework as to how that can be undertaken. If a system like that existed and it had to be filled in by every garda, I would have confidence that it would give us an accurate picture.

In terms of the PULSE system as it currently exists, there are very rich narratives by some gardaí and then far less detail by other gardaí. The concern is around accountability and whether there is a reluctance to put in a detailed narrative because of issues in respect of accountability and a fear of being held to account if they say too much. That is understandable but we need to have a system now that mitigates against that. That is what I am suggesting.

Regarding the issue of Tusla and the mystification, I had a certain degree of sympathy for many gardaí. If I am asked for the solution, it comes back to co-location. We need agencies working seamlessly together and sometimes confidentiality is used. I characterised it as being a bogus barrier because while data protection is often raised as an issue, data protection may not necessarily be a barrier if one is not disclosing the identity of the parties. What we need to do is have some reflexive learning and that reflexive learning can only occur where there is feedback as to whether a section 12 power was correctly exercised.

Regarding alcohol, it has been one of the single biggest factors. I have had the experience in that I chaired the review of the cases of the 196 children who died in State care. That is another broad systemic review. There are common themes running through both of those. One is poor inter-agency co-operation and the second is alcohol abuse. We know the issues. We now need to robustly tackle the issues.

I was listening to Kenneth Egan's account on "Claire Byrne Live" on Monday night, which I though was particularly compelling in terms of what we need to do. We have been talking about the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill for some time. We now need positive action because of the fact that this has a real impact on children. Children are not passive bystanders in all of this but we sometimes see them as passive bystanders.

On the issue of the reluctance to exercise a section 12 power, I have found the gardaí do extraordinarily well in very difficult circumstances.

Sometimes it is not popular to say this, but credit where credit is due, the audit found that rank and file gardaí do an outstanding job in protecting very vulnerable children. That needs to be said. We need much more robust systems to ensure that the paperwork exists to back up this very important child protection safety mechanism. That is how I would respond to that.