Mr. Cormac Quinlan:

I will address the culture issue first. Fred McBride has touched on this already. The child protection and welfare strategy which we have talked about, and obviously signs of safety are a part of that, took almost two years to develop. We conducted a very extensive review of all the reports, inspections or otherwise. It was a thematic review and analysis of all the critical challenges and the things that were working well in the system to allow us to build what I believe is a very effective strategy for the next five years to deliver real change. In addition, it meant that Fred and I met hundreds of our front-line staff throughout the country. We visited many areas to talk to them about what they considered to be the particular challenges the agency was facing, what they believed was working well for their practice and how they wanted to see the agency change. That also included engagement with key stakeholders. We met with officials from our Department, the HSE and the Garda. We carried out a comprehensive analysis and engagement with all staff. The staff told us that they wanted to work in a much more creative and collaborative environment, and we are modelling that.

I have also been at the front of rolling out this training programme with staff around the country. We have exceptionally skilled and enthusiastic staff who wish to work in this agency. They do not believe they are failing people, and certainly we do not believe we are failing people in that context. There are challenges and issues, but all the information we have presented today highlights that there is a huge amount of positive work taking place in this organisation. There are problems but the nature of child protection and welfare work is problematic, and we are seeking over time to address those difficulties.

With regard to the comment around culture, it would be absolutely inappropriate for staff to engage in a process where they would try to bypass the responsibility. That would not be the intent of the organisation. If that was a concern, we would address it with staff to prevent it from happening. Our work is to try to collaborate as effectively as we can with the Garda to get better outcomes for children.