Ms Maria Joyce:

We spoke at length earlier about the mistrust and lack of meaningful direct relationships between the community and Tusla. Tusla is making efforts. It has a national working group on engagement with the community under NTRIS. There are some resources or supports for some local Traveller organisations, although nowhere near enough. We also talked about the importance of engagement by Tusla with the community as a preventative measure rather than at a crisis point. While there are some initiatives, there are nowhere near enough. Much more needs to be done to build trust and relationships and to break down the very real fear the Traveller community has of Tusla and its interventions where so many Traveller children are in care. We must consider the historical context of children being taken out of families simply because they were a Traveller family on the roadside. Ms McDonagh spoke about the cruelty men and the fear that generated and still generates. It is not just about historical fears; there are contemporary issues, barriers and challenges in respect of what we have on the ground at the moment. While some efforts are being made, it needs to go much further. I will not go into this in detail on this point again because we have already gone into it but it is important that Tusla take a very targeted approach to a more diverse workforce, which should include Travellers, at all levels including the senior social work level. It must engage with the Traveller organisations and with the community at that senior social work level to build relationships, trust and avenues of support that are not about children being put into care but about supporting families to keep children in the home and in the community.