Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's last line, that Tusla does not instruct An Garda to keep anybody in a Garda station and that it is a matter for the Garda, sums it up. It sums up the pathetic nature of buck-passing and is trying to mask the reality of the findings of the report which states the initial de factoplace of safety for children is the Garda station. There is no point in dressing it up or trying to sugar-coat it by saying it is a Garda decision. One should remember that section 12 contains a very rare power. A garda does not have to go to the courts or anything, but where he or she is convinced that a child is in danger, in the home or another setting, he or she must take him or her out of that danger. However, he or she has nowhere to put the child. There is no comprehensive out-of-hours social work service available.

It is not about people being gagged and so on. This is a comprehensive report. In fairness, I commend the Garda for commissioning the audit, but it involved very extensive consultation with gardaí on the exercise of the section 12 power. There is frustration and annoyance and a lack of basic resources in terms of the number of social workers in the field in this area. The de factoposition is that there is no proper comprehensive out-of-hours social work service available; that is the reality. We need to go behind the language, rhetoric and defensive position, acknowledge the essential truths in the report and resolve to deal with them. The next budget should be the first signal on the resource side of such a commitment.

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