Ms Nuala Ward:

This legislation is 30 years old. Now is our time to make it much better for future children. That is what we meant by "to be ambitious". During that 30 years, there have been so many tragic cases. We had so many national review panels and cases we should all learn from to see what can do better. We know children are being exploited by criminal gangs in this country. What are we doing about it? We believe that we need underpinning legislation to make it better. I am not going to go on. The key message about interagency is incredibly strong. Tusla cannot fix everything. It is not within its gift, so all parts of the Department’s other services need to step up to help these children. That is why we talk about making sure that no children should be placed in unregulated settings. We believe that anyone who is out of home should be in good places for the shortest time possible, for a minimum age group. All these things that we have learned must be included in this legislation. This is our chance. It could be 30 years again until it is reviewed. That is what we believe about being ambitious.