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

In respect of the funding for Tusla, I believe its request pertaining to unallocated cases and its business plan to deal with that was met fully. As for its overall request for funding, the agency had concerns about some incoming legislation and its possible cost, but if one reads the statement on Tusla's website, and I will paraphrase the last line because I cannot remember it precisely, it more or less acknowledges the additional resources will put Tusla on a solid footing in delivering its core services. There always is a need for more money. Tusla could always spend more money but one thing about recent years has been the decisions of the Government about various areas to ensure the recovery. It is all very well to pick a single area and one could consider health, child care, policing or education as all these areas suffered as a consequence of the recession that Members are aware was caused by the previous Government, albeit not in its entirety as there were international effects as well. This is what is at the core of the debate in the Chamber today because ultimately, if the economy is delivering the income to the Exchequer, the Government can then invest in these services in education, health and, most important from my perspective, child care and family resource centres. However, to pretend one has a bottomless pit of money or the pot was full when the Government took office when in fact it is known Ireland was bereft of any money and its international reputation was in tatters is to be a little fantastical. I do not direct those comments at Deputy McLellan.

See this speech in context