Dr. Fergal Lynch:

The best way to describe this is it has been an extremely difficult situation which we inherited and of which we were acutely aware from the time the Department was established. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established in 2011. Tusla was established in 2014. We were faced with a range of other priorities, and I do not say this by way of justification but by way of fact. When the Department was established, our first obligation was our establishment and to ensure we were properly functioning. We spent the early years putting in place the child and family agency, established in 2014. We then dealt with a wide range of other significant and costly priorities, for example, a Deputy mentioned funding for Tusla in its early years and the challenges it faced. We were looking at €600 million or €650 million worth of expenditure. Deputy Cassells mentioned the early years payments and the extent to which they have expanded. These payments are now worth more than €400 million. When we combine these two elements and the expenditure on them, we were obliged, in my view, to focus on getting those right. We were acutely aware of the unsatisfactory nature of the guardian ad litemservice, but to be honest I do not feel we could have done everything at once. We started this process in 2013 and 2014, and work was being done on this throughout this period.