Ms Nuala Ward:

Cultural sensitivity is important for all social workers. Ireland has become so diverse. This is not just about children and families living in direct provision. Rather, all of Ireland has changed dramatically in the past 20 or so years. There is an expectation we should be well able to deal with and manage people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds in a sensitive manner. Therefore, it was a surprise to us that training had not yet been completed even though it had been recommended numerous times. We appreciate it will now happen as part of a broader intercultural strategy within the Child and Family Agency. That training must of course include the staff and managers of the units themselves. We have visited nearly all of the centres throughout the country and have met some individual staff members who are exceptionally dedicated and committed to working with these families, but that cannot just be based on individuals' interests. I have no doubt there are social workers who have undertaken their own professional development in this regard, but that is not good enough. It cannot be reliant on individuals. There must be a more systemic national approach that is informed by strategy. That is the critical element.

We will be monitoring that closely because that will help everybody.

Regarding the inspections, we are very clear that the current inspection regime is not what is needed to be assured of the safety and welfare of children, as was mentioned, in respect of their moral, spiritual and social development. As can be seen in our report, the current inspection regime is very much based on the physical conditions, whereas a robust inspection mechanism is much more than that. It is concerned with standards, dignity, privacy and what the conditions are like. It involves meeting with the children and parents to ask them what it is like to live in a centre. It is not just a case of walking in, checking some documents and then walking away.

Linked to the other point made by the Deputy is the complaints procedure. A really good and robust complaints procedure is an invaluable insight into exactly what a centre is like. As the Deputy said, we recognise that it is so difficult for these people, coming from the countries they come from, to make a complaint. That is especially the case when those people are waiting and hoping that this country will accept their asylum applications. The analogy we always try to make regarding IPAS is that it is a bit like being in hospital and being a vulnerable person as a result. People in direct provision centres are entirely dependent on other adults for a roof over their heads, food for their children and clothes on their backs. It is really difficult for people in that situation to be able to be brave enough to step up and say they want to make a complaint about the centre. It is now up to IPAS to act in this regard. One of our recommendations is for IPAS to empower people and to ask them why they are not making complaints and where they might think the process is going wrong. We are really interested, therefore, to see the response from IPAS to that recommendation.

That point links us nicely into the last aspect. We will definitely be following up on this situation, as we always do. We tend not to go away. Therefore, we will be returning in respect of a detailed implementation plan at six months. We have timelines, and there has been a commitment to address various issues from Tusla and IPAS, and both of them together. I state that last aspect because, as can be seen, we made specific recommendations to both organisations, but the two organisations must also work together for the benefit of these children. We will follow up again in this regard. As an example of our follow-up, concerning another investigation, we are two years into it and still following up on it. I hope that answers the Deputy’s question.