Mr. Fred McBride:

I was trying to say I do not think we can know about every single situation in which a child is at risk. We can only know about what we find out about, what we are told about, what we see and what we observe. There are children at risk in many families and situations in Ireland and Tusla and other State agencies do not necessarily know about them. Sexual abuse, by its very nature, happens behind closed doors. There are efforts within families and other extended networks to keep it secret. I have to say that realistically, we cannot know about everything. As HIQA has reported, when these matters come to our attention and we think there is an immediate risk or a child is immediately in harm's way, we respond immediately and we do something about it. This report is about how we prioritise our response to cases involving children who are not at immediate risk and how we make sure that response is appropriate, sufficiently timely and proportionate. While we should not overreact to something, equally seriously we should not under-react. That is the best way I can answer the Senator's question. I am trying to be honest and realistic. We cannot know about every child's situation.