Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To go back to the idea of the family and kids being fractured and sent to different places, either through placement or in different houses to be reared, studies published at the beginning of the year state that siblings have much more of an influence on who we become and how we are as we grow than our parents at times. That connection has to be there. With our parents, there is a life cycle and life goes on, but we always have a connection with our siblings throughout our lives. They are quite influential. These studies highlight that.

Those in Tusla are always the bad guys or women in the whole situation. Women come in and are terrified of Tusla. They fear they cannot go through with it because Tusla will come to get them. You get to a stage where you just say to women to let Tusla come in because it has an obligation to protect both the mother and the children. You tell women you will be in their corner or whatever like that. That is what the witnesses do. It is about changing that attitude. If Tusla has the time, energy, staff and remit, it should change that whole attitude from one of punishment to one of being an enabler and a helper.

I am the Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on gender and domestic violence. We are launching the zero tolerance campaign and it has been quite challenging to get men involved because they think it is a women's problem. It is actually not a woman's problem; it is a man's problem. We are working on that as a society. What is missing in this conversation is the fathers. While someone mentioned the daddies, the mammies are always the go-to. That is the way it is. The fathers also need to be remembered and guided in respect of their children because they are – hopefully - another sensible adult who can root and secure children. They are not in the conversation a lot. I wish to note that. They are half of the population. I thank the witnesses very much. It has been a great to and fro.