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

The report of the disclosures tribunal has fully vindicated Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe. The tribunal chair, Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, excoriated those who stood in opposition to the stance taken by Sergeant McCabe. The report acknowledged his dedication as a public servant. I agree wholeheartedly and believe this extends beyond his role as a public servant. As a citizen of the State, he made huge personal sacrifices which will make the country a better place. As a member of the Government and as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I have apologised unreservedly to Maurice and Lorraine McCabe and their family for the failures which could have destroyed their lives. There are no words to express this adequately. The grace under pressure shown by Maurice McCabe throughout the experience is an example to us all.

As Minister with responsibility for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, the forthright message from Mr. Justice Charleton is clear. In its mildest interpretation, Tusla needs a radical shape up. I have read comments attributed to Tusla management that politicians, Government and the media need to fall in behind the Tusla message because negative coverage does not help with its aim of recruiting and retaining staff. The foreword to the Tusla business plan of 2018 states:

2017 has undoubtedly been the most challenging year yet faced by the Agency, predominantly because of an unprecedented level of external scrutiny including a programme of inspections and investigation by the Health Information and Quality Authority, as well as a Tribunal of Inquiry, Commission of Inquiry and investigations by the Data Protection Commissioner, Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Children. The Agency was also requested to appear on numerous occasions before the Public Accounts Committee and Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.

Let me contrast this with the remarks of Mr. Justice Charleton from the report:

A public body, paid for by the taxpayer, has a fundamental duty of self-scrutiny in pursuit of the highest standards. The administration of TUSLA was sorely lacking in application and in dedication to duty.

This morning I met with the board of Tusla and we discussed these remarks. I told it that I need its assurances on self-scrutiny and that in order to assure me it will have to assure itself first. I look forward to receiving these assurances.

All of our agencies need scrutiny, both self-scrutiny and external scrutiny. I know the Oireachtas joint committee and the Committee of Public Accounts will continue to do their duty of external scrutiny and insist on Tusla’s presence at committees. I will also continue to insist on external scrutiny. I also read to the board some of the quotations that Deputy Connolly has just read.

I directed the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, to carry out a statutory investigation on Tusla. I did not wait for the results of the tribunal. It was clear to me and many others from what we knew about how Tusla handled the information regarding Maurice McCabe that there could be a serious risk to the health and welfare of children. The report of HIQA's statutory investigation was published in June 2018 and its findings are echoed in the tribunal's report. The Cavan-Monaghan area was looked at by HIQA once the tribunal had finished its work. It is no surprise that the action plan to address the finding of the statutory investigation, which I ordered, will underpin the reforms of the Cavan-Monaghan area. These improvements should tackle head on the deficits that were fully aired in the tribunal's third interim report.

This is necessary, constructive and badly needed scrutiny. As I mentioned, I met with the board of Tusla this morning and we discussed the tribunal's findings. I make no apology for the need for constructive and badly needed scrutiny. I have asked for a formal response to the report which will set out the evidence of change that will prevent a person's reputation being traduced in this way from ever happening again.

The report makes clear that the root cause of Tusla's failures in this case was not some dark conspiracy but simply incompetence. The reforms necessary to address this will be overseen by the board of Tusla. Tusla has said it is addressing the findings by re-organising and improving management and governance arrangements, introducing a dedicated specialist team to manage retrospective allegations of abuse that are received, introducing a formal performance management system and increasing quality assurance of policies on the ground.

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While it is my belief that funding is not the key to delivering on these reforms, I have secured an increase in funding to Tusla by over €30 million for 2019, so this cannot be an excuse of lack of delivery. Changes are needed and changes are being made.

The tribunal says that its report holds the policing body of this State to account. I can say that it has also held Tusla to account. In the report, the tribunal chair has made stark and significant findings about the managers of the Cavan-Monaghan area and a litany of missed opportunities.

I find it appalling that if the case had been dealt with in accordance with existing policies then none of this might have been necessary. The procedures in place at the time were, as the report says, simply ignored. HIQA made a similar finding – the policies were in place but not being implemented.

The tribunal's conclusions reflected the withering criticisms in the report from the regional manager in Tusla. The stark evidence of the inertia within Cavan-Monaghan is almost incredible, except we knew what had happened to Maurice McCabe. That area management did not face up to the mistakes that were made, seek the guidance of, or report what had happened, to the senior management team is what led to the unspeakable misery visited upon the McCabe family.

If we have learned anything from this it is the absolute necessity of having a culture of openness and integrity. It is the duty of management to guide, support and encourage this culture of openness and integrity. It is the duty of management and staff to correct mistakes when they happen. It is the duty of the board to hold management to account to ensure that this happens. I said this clearly to the board of Tusla this morning. It is my duty as Minister to hold the board to account, and I am doing this.

The tribunal drew attention to the setting up of the sexual abuse regional team. This team was the first of four established and the remaining three areas can expect similar teams to be set up in the near future. This is a key action in response to the HIQA statutory investigation. The tribunal says that the setting up of such a team is a necessary initiative.

As the 2013 notification which is central to the tribunal’s report concerned an allegation of abuse of a person who was an adult at the time of the notification, this case was managed under the policy for retrospective cases. This is a challenging area for Tusla as social workers have to balance child protection and fair procedures towards the person who is the subject to the allegation. A revised policy, replacing the 2014 policy, is to be published shortly. Tusla's revised policy has an eye to fair process and natural justice and builds on the legal framework that has evolved since 2014.

The report from the Disclosures Tribunal on the handling of this case is clearly devastating in its assessment. In truth, thanks to the excellent HIQA investigation we were expecting many of the high level findings in relation to Tusla’s management of allegations of child sexual abuse but reading how these failures devastated the McCabe family was deeply upsetting. My Department has been working with Tusla to progress the reforms since the publication of the report in June this year. However, I was not expecting, and found it utterly shocking, to read the tribunal’s comments on the extent and nature of Tusla’s co-operation with it in its work.

It is helpful to place these on the record of the House.

Tusla were slow to respond to the public request for cooperation by the tribunal. Statements made were laconic to the point of being mysterious. The tribunal had to seek further information and identify witnesses who might cast light on matters, who had not yet revealed themselves. These then had to be called in evidence, as from them emerged important evidence. This kind of holding back is bad enough from a private citizen, never mind a public body.

I spoke to the chair of Tusla about this when the report was published and I spoke to the board about it this morning. I have asked for an explanation. It is simply not acceptable that a Government agency would not co-operate fully with a tribunal of investigation. The board has undertaken to communicate with the tribunal in order to understand the nature of these findings and learn from them.

As we speak here in our Parliament and comment on this most important report, I am thinking of the women and men who, on our behalf, are saving our children in all parts of our country. Right now, a Tusla front-line worker is removing a child from a dangerous situation because she or he is being sexually or physically abused; is intervening for a child that has not been washed or fed; and is comforting a child who has been abandoned or whose parents cannot care for them. They are the people with the courage and resolve to know what is to be done and we must continue to listen to our front-line agency workers. I intend to meet with them to get their views on how we can move forward with the reform of Tusla as we all digest this report.

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