Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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I will start by making a general point. Plenty of people are pushing a myth that our services are somehow excellent and are simply overburdened because we have let too many people into this country. That is a falsehood that is ultimately rooted in racism. That certainly came through in some of what we heard today about the lack of care placements and staff. This is not the first time it has been said to us about Tusla and social work services. The lack of public health nurses, PHNs, impacts on every community in every way. Based on some quick googling, the figure given by the Department of Education for the number of children from the International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, who are in schools here is less than 0.5 % so this idea that Ireland is somehow full is nonsense. Some of the statements today have helped to expose that. It is important that we underline that, push back against it and point out that economic decisions about how and where we invest in public services are causing these challenges. This is not to say that there are no additional needs or vulnerabilities. As Safetynet Primary Care stated, migration in and of itself presents challenges, grief and loss so there are additional vulnerabilities of which we must be aware. I wanted to underline that.

One of the additional vulnerabilities relates to the cultural competence of service providers, the challenge of needing translators and the lack of translators in our health service, courts service and all over the place. I want to dig into this idea of cultural competence. Akina Dada wa Africa, AkiDwA, produced a report about the experience of African families dealing with Tusla and being parents of children in care. We could get into a discussion about parents needing additional support, as we often do, but I want to focus on cultural competence. What are those at the top of Tusla and the Department of Education doing to ensure and support it so that, at the very least, the vulnerability that arises from the lack of translation services and the lack of understanding can be overcome?

My next question is for the other witnesses, if there is time. They see this. They mentioned that different CHOs work in different ways. They are on the receiving end of this. Can they highlight good practice in the area of cultural competence that we could highlight and encourage?