Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt the Taoiseach's sincerity on this issue, but I think all of us were shocked by the report of the special rapporteur on children and the screening last night by "RTE Investigates". It was a special broadcast looking at the case studies and findings of Dr. Geoffrey Shannon as well as the detail of yet another disturbing case in my own south east region. Dr. Geoffrey Shannon has found chronic systems failures in the functions of Tusla. He called for a change of culture across the entire child protection system. How many times have we heard the phrase "a change of culture" in the last few weeks? His words at a press conference yesterday sear into us, that there were children treated as human trash in some of these cases. It is beyond shocking. To read the case studies of the report is sobering and shocking. An intoxicated woman slapped her eight-month old baby in a fast food restaurant, threw the baby in the air and dragged the child across wet ground. Three young children aged five and two years and less than a year were wandering around the streets unsupervised, narrowly avoiding being hit by traffic. Two children, aged two and six years, were unsupervised and watching television while their mother was out drinking. These are not the worst of the cases.

The Taoiseach has said that the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone, is to meet the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to discuss inter-agency co-operation between gardaí and Tusla. That is one recommendation. Improving the sharing of information between the Garda and Tusla is welcome but it is not enough. I cannot accept the Minister, Deputy Katherine Zappone's assertion this morning that Tusla is fit for purpose. I do not believe anybody who watched the programme last night accepts that this is the current reality, whatever the potential of Tusla. My colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has been calling for some time now for a comprehensive 24-hour social work service for children at risk. It is not a phone line, but a service that delivers the same protection for children as that which is delivered during normal office hours, and to every part of the country.

Will the Taoiseach commit to the delivery of such a 24-hour comprehensive service, and will he set out the timeline? I do not expect him to set out the timeline this minute, but will he commit to setting a timeline for the instigation of such a service? Will he make sure that all gardaí receive appropriate child care protection training? He mentioned that there is a new module in training in Templemore Garda training college now. What about the huge existing cohort of gardaí? Will they be retrained? Will the Taoiseach tell this House what other changes will be introduced, so that the referendum that we passed to vindicate the rights of children - we worked together in government to ask the people to support that - will become a reality and not merely an aspiration?

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