Mr. Jim Gibson:

Absolutely. It is a matter of how they are deployed, particularly at jamborees and on overnight trips.

In that correspondence, we asked Scouting Ireland to look at that. We had a very fruitful meeting last Thursday where there was clear collaboration and partnership with Scouting Ireland. I chaired that meeting. We had a very specific agenda, which created a space where we could have an open discussion about the issues and concerns we raised. This led us to an agreed action plan that the interim CEO read into the record here. This is where Tusla and Scouting Ireland want to be because notwithstanding where we got to in the political and public arena, it was never the intention of Tusla to go there. As Mr. Smyth outlined, the correspondence about our concerns was directly to the CEO. We did not see these concerns as insurmountable because if they were insurmountable, it would have been a different type of correspondence. We knew progress was being made and that Scouting Ireland had been very transparent and had integrity regarding historical abuse but we were looking at the overall landscape in the context of the concerns. We feel it is a work in progress. I am very satisfied with the engagement I had with Scouting Ireland last week, that there is partnership and collaboration going forward and that Scouting Ireland has agreed the action plan, which addresses the issues. It sets Scouting Ireland in a good place in terms of us working with it to ensure it is not just compliant with the statement of intent, which is the safeguarding statement, but that it works with us in assuring us that practice in the organisation mirrors its policies and procedures and that we look at the issues of the helpline. We have reached a good space where there will be an independent review, which I will commission. I will be collaborative in respect of its commissioning. I will go to one of the stated universities that has a track record of doing good research on that.