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

I could believe what the Taoiseach has just said if it were not for the record over recent years. Unfortunately, this is not the first we have heard of this issue. For example, HIQA conducted 12 inspections of Tusla child protection and welfare services between 2014 and 2016 and exactly the same issues arose in those reports, so much so that HIQA in 2015 reviewed the governance arrangements within Tusla because it was so concerned. Nine months ago, in October 2017, HIQA organised a meeting with the Minister and Tusla to apprise them of the fact that children were at risk because of systemic failures within Tusla. We have also had the Garda Síochána Inspectorate report on child sex abuse allegations with very damning conclusions.

This needs more than what the Taoiseach is suggesting. The response from Government is not urgent nor comprehensive enough and has been partially responsible over the last two to three years. This is despite all of the reports, for example, those from Geoffrey Shannon and the Ombudsman for Children. They are all saying the same thing but very little is happening on the ground in reality in terms of giving capacity and introducing proper change to make sure children are not at risk because of the systemic failures of our national child welfare agency.

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