Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The report catalogues failures and enormous shortcomings in Tusla and in child protection. The Deputy is right that these are often problems that we have known about for some time. It is a major job and effort to do the transformation that has occurred in recent years.

We cannot make these improvements soon enough, but I will give the Deputy an idea of where we have come from in only the past seven or eight years. We established a Department for Children and Youth Affairs and a dedicated agency, Tusla. When Tusla was set up it took on the full legacy left by the Health Service Executive and the health boards. We have put the rights of children in the Constitution. As I pointed out, we have increased resources for Tusla by €40 million in the past year. We successfully brought in mandatory reporting only at the end of last year.

The Deputy is right that the problems that exist around child protection are well known. However, they are being dealt with over time and we will continue to deal with them. I will give examples of some of the things done in recent months. In April a new chief social worker was appointed, so there is someone now very much in charge of social work. That person is key to ensuring that policy is being developed and implemented. In July a new information and communications technology recording system for child protection and welfare went operational on a nationwide basis for the first time. Joint work with the Garda is very important, especially when it comes to retrospective allegations, and improvements have been made in this area. The report finds that good governance arrangements are now in place at corporate and executive levels.

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