Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many of the issues of which the Minister spoke were also articulated incredibly well by the children. I felt they were ahead of the curve, whereas adults might not have been taking the matter as seriously. Those children were taking it very seriously and their voices were well heard. My question to the Minister concerns what she said in her opening statement about her Department having a small role to play. That may be the case but what happens in her Department feeds into the other Departments that have a larger role. I am referring to the Department of Justice and Equality, in particular, regarding issues of child protection. We have a good working relationship at the moment with the PSNI and the British police forces and there is good sharing of information across borders.

In the context of a no-deal Brexit, which is the vacuum we are talking about, what is the Minister's understanding of how we will share information? How are we also going to ensure we deal effectively with the issue of child protection? That is a major concern for me. A unit of An Garda Síochána in the Phoenix Park specialises in working on child protection issues, including child trafficking. How will those issues be approached if the United Kingdom becomes a third country? What I have referred to relates to the Department of Justice and Equality.

How many meetings have the Minister and her officials had with the Minister for Health, the Minister of State with special responsibility for mental health issues and older people, the Minister for Education and Skills and the Minister for Justice and Equality in the past 12 months? I am sure those Departments are liaising with the Minister’s Department on issues such as care orders which might involve having to send children to the UK for various forms of support or treatment. How will that continue? In her statement, the Minister referred to "consideration" being given to the need for putting in place new protocols for consistency of practice and effective communications. What does "consideration" mean? Why has it not been put into practice and where are we at with that process of consideration? Those are my questions and I thank the Minister.