Ms Kate Duggan:

I share the Deputy's support of the therapeutic hub in Dublin North-Central. I, with my therapy background, support the need for Tusla to develop its own ìn-house therapeutic services. We have committed as part of our 2022 business plan to the establishment of therapeutic services. We are looking at having in place by the end of the year six therapeutic teams within Tusla. As the CEO stated, we need to do this incrementally in order that every new child coming into care will receive a trauma-informed multidisciplinary assessment which will inform their care plan. Our plan is to, incrementally over the next three years, replicate that in all 17 areas as they stand today. That will be overseen by a regional therapeutic co-ordinator who will be responsible not only for directing that service and the quality thereof, but also for more tightly governing how we commission private therapeutic services and how we engage with our community and voluntary partners around the provision of therapeutic services to children in care.