Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is welcome to hear that the Minister is looking for a national strategy in the business plan for 2018 because when the report on the situation in Cork came out the other day, it made for very worrying reading. It found that a number of key recommendations made in the previous report had still not been addressed, least of all the recommendation on Garda vetting. It also found that a number of families who were fostering children in care had not been subjected to Garda vetting. That is a huge issue. We have to drill deep to find out why Garda vetting is still an issue, despite being the most fundamental part of any of the reports presented, including the Tusla and HIQA reports. In this day and age, Garda vetting should not be an issue in cases where children are in care. We need to find out why this has repeatedly been an issue. I am concerned that a number of the four key recommendations made in the Cork report had still not been addressed. We have to find out why they were not addressed, when they will be addressed and who is going to be held accountable. What role does the Minister's Department play in all of this? The fact is there is now a second report.

See this speech in context