Mr. Mark Toland:

It is not unresolvable but it is one of the issues senior managers in both organisations raised as a barrier to more efficient working. We have commented in our report on other jurisdictions and how they get around it. In Northern Ireland, the protective services of the police have reorganised themselves to fit into health authority areas. That is one way of dealing with it. In the UK, there are centres where one will have social workers, police officers and health professionals all in the same building. This is a multi-agency hub at which conferences can be held. We watched one and it looked very professional. They come together immediately. The three organisations in the UK share information about a child and make decisions. That is a good model which could be replicated in Ireland. One could have a model which deals with rural parts as well as the cities. We give options for a better system than is currently in place.