Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated, I put in place a comprehensive response to the recommendations made in Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's report as a result of meetings and an agreement with him on the initial way to proceed in that regard.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire's last question was on inter-agency co-operation. Several aspects in this regard will be examined and reported on to me in ensuring better inter-agency co-operation. In particular, we will examine the Garda and Tusla and what is going on in terms of the strategic liaison committees, the membership of which comprises representatives of the Garda and Tusla.

Another question was related to co-location and whether we needed the physical presence of gardaí and Tusla staff working together.

Initially, co-location will be piloted, following which consideration will be given to how it can work better such that in other settings, including at national level, we can have a co-location of Tusla and Garda to ensure a better response to the children invoked in terms of section 12.

See this speech in context