Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

The review of PULSE was from 2008 to the end of 2015, with a focus on 2014 and 2015. The reason I selected 2014 and 2015 was that these were six months prior to the Athlone and Tallaght incidents and six months subsequent to them. It was to get an understanding as to how the power operated prior to its invocation and the powers exercised by the Ombudsman and her subsequent report to see whether the system had changed. It involved a forensic review of between 5,000 and 6,000 cases. I looked at all cases from the time we started keeping records. It was an opportunity to look in summary fashion from 2008 and in detail during the critical period in question.

What comes from this audit is a reassurance to the public that when gardaí exercise their powers, they do so proportionally and there is no evidence of racial profiling. That is what I wanted to determine. However, what the audit unearthed was problems with PULSE, with training and with the subsequent removal of children.

The report was presented to the Garda Commissioner in March 2017. In terms of it being a contemporary picture, I continued to update the report with new data right up until the time of submission. This is a pretty contemporary picture as to how the system operates.

In terms of changes, I have met Detective Superintendent Daly and Inspector Lynch on several occasions. They are committed to the child protection system. That does not take away from the systemic difficulties which need to be addressed. My experience of the Garda Síochána child protection unit has been positive . Tusla has an implementation plan and it has invited me to present to its board at the end of September.

The net conclusion from this audit is that agencies need to work together. It is not good enough to inhabit our silos. Child protection is everybody's and every agency's responsibility. That is why the co-location model needs the broad fundamental reform that follows from this report. I share Deputy Wallace's view and I am not naive about reports gathering dust. I hope this report does not gather dust and the big picture of reform it advocates, namely, co-location, is implemented. That will involve real change with agencies having to concede territorial ground in terms of their own individual professions. What struck me about the Bronx model was that after a time it became seamless. What initially looks challenging actually produces results for children. When doing the cost-benefit analysis of the Bronx system, I was told by the New York City Police Department, NYPD, that it makes a saving of $1,000 per case. This means it is less expensive because one is pooling the resources of the agencies. I would liken it to what happened when creating specialist units in the health system. Why can we not have centres of excellence for children?

The 31 instances caused me some concern. In my correspondence of January 2016, I highlighted 31 instances in an attached table in which additional data and other instances relating to the children were not included in the data for section 12 children. In these cases, when a search was undertaken for the particular PULSE field relating to the specific section 12 incident in 2014, it did not feature in the section 12 children all incidents worksheet. There were no other PULSE entries relating to the child in that worksheet.

The explanation that has been advanced is that these cases may have been misclassified. Nonetheless, when one exercises such an exceptional power, it is important that it is done carefully and that regard is had to the fact that there is the potential of trampling on parents' constitutional rights. It is also important it is treated not just as a paper exercise but as a record of one discharging one's statutory and constitutional responsibilities.

I passionately agree with the Chairman on continuing professional development. It is important we train our gardaí and that this training does not stop once they leave Templemore. My vision for a force that exercises such exceptional powers is that there should be mandatory continuing professional development for members of An Garda Síochána. The legislative landscape is changing dramatically. Accordingly, we must ensure that members of An Garda Síochána understand these new powers and responsibilities imposed upon them. That can only be achieved through training.