Mr. Mark Toland:

The Garda national protective services bureau is the Garda Síochána's national unit that covers such matters as child sexual abuse, domestic abuse and other vulnerable victim crimes. They are the national unit and they devise policies and directives. What was missing was something locally, at a Garda divisional level, a smaller version of a national unit that investigates the crimes. Each of the 28 Garda divisions should have an investigation unit, which will be called a protective services unit, and they will be working, it is to be hoped, consistently across Ireland to investigate child sexual abuse.

The child centres are a separate entity. In the case of a child who is a victim of child sexual abuse, the centre is normally sited within hospital grounds.

It is a separate building, a purpose-built facility. It takes into account the needs of a child and the family. We went to Norway and Northern Ireland to look at two centres. They are fantastic facilities. The child will go there immediately and be assessed by medical professionals to decide whether he or she needs to be medically examined. That examination will take place at the venue. The child will be interviewed and the centre will co-ordinate the interview. The centre has proper specialist interview facilities. The centre will also examine the child's emotional and therapeutic needs. It is all co-ordinated. There is usually a multi-agency set-up. It is a purpose-built centre for looking at the needs of the child. Some of the centres cater for adults as well. The Northern Ireland model takes adults as well as children.