James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with Deputy Troy in offering my sympathies to the family. I was as shocked as everyone else in the country to hear of the tragic and senseless death of such a young child - a child who had his whole life ahead of him. Sadly, it is a tragic fact of life that children die, and sometimes die at the hand of someone they know - a trusted adult, sometimes even a parent or guardian. We must do everything we can to understand and learn from tragedies such as this. It is incumbent upon us in the House to do everything in our power to make sure that every resource available to the State is used to prevent such tragedies in the future. It is only by learning from tragic events such as this one that we can help those people charged by the State to work with children to keep them safe.

When there is a fatality of a child in the care of the State or one who has been seen by social work services - or indeed, when something happens that could have resulted in a fatality - the case is referred to the National Review Panel, which was established in 2010 specifically for the purpose raised by the Deputy, namely, to identify lessons that need to be learned by State agencies following a child’s death. The panel is chaired by Dr. Helen Buckley of Trinity College Dublin, who is an expert on these matters. The review focuses primarily on services provided to the child and family and establishes whether they were effective and compliant with guidance and procedures.

The case is also the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, and we do not yet know the full facts. Nor do we know the outcome of the work of the National Review Panel. It would not be proper or prudent to speculate until we know all the facts. Like everyone else, I am eager to hear the panel's conclusions, but it needs time to do its work and that must be unhindered by our desire for answers. I wish to reassure the House that the panel works independently of the Child and Family Agency, and any other State agency, and has neither fear nor favour in coming to its conclusions. The Deputy can rest assured that the panel will advise the agency in order that it can start working on recommendations as they become available, even before the report is published. The report is unlikely to be available to us before the outcome of the criminal investigation.

See this speech in context