Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank the witnesses for their presentations. The crucial issue is about the delicate balance between the constitutional right of the child to be protected and the right of the alleged perpetrator to their good name. I want to follow up on the series of questions that others have asked and focus, in particular, on the right of the alleged perpetrator. I note with some concern that Mr. McBride said Tusla's social workers are well trained in dealing with the child. I understand that because Tusla's primary purpose is the protection of children. However, I am somewhat concerned because he said that he is developing specialist posts and upskilling staff to deal with alleged perpetrators.

To follow up on the Chairman's question, if an allegation is made against an individual, serious concerns arise over his or her right to have correct follow-up procedures in order to protect his or her good name. I wish to ask some specific questions about that.

In response to Deputy Ó Laoghaire, the witnesses said it is first a matter of an intake referral and that, if there is a possible criminal offence, the information is shared with the Garda. In the witnesses' presentation, they referred to appropriate information sharing. Obviously, there is appropriate information sharing and the referrals that come to the agency will come from a variety of sources. They are all channelled into Tusla. I understand the constraints based on Tusla being newly established and that there is a shortage of staff. At what point does Tusla share information with the Garda? If an accusation is made and there is a judgment that there may be an alleged criminal offence, at what point does Tusla share the information with the Garda? Is it at the stage of the making of the judgment? How does Tusla update that information? The witnesses have given us some detailed responses on how they keep and update their own files and how they make corrections where there is wrong information in a file. How does Tusla update the people with whom it shares information, specifically the Garda?

There is a concern over the protection of one's good name. Who speaks to the alleged perpetrator when information is shared? Is it Tusla or the Garda? How is a person notified that a complaint has been made against him or her about activity that may be of a criminal nature? What are the agency's procedures in that regard?

We cannot talk about the specific case but I would like to refer, however, to a very general quotation in some of the correspondence on that case: "Given the demands on the service at the time [It is a particular point in time], the case remained on a waiting list to be assigned to a social worker". We all know there is a large number of cases that have not been assigned to social workers because of shortages, etc., and that targets were not met by the end of 2016. Where a social worker was involved previously in respect of a case, why would that case be put on a list of cases awaiting the assignation of a social worker? In other words, if there has been a social worker involved in some stage-----