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

I am aware of that and of what the report stated. The model Tusla has developed is effectively providing, in Tusla's belief, supports that may be necessary before the application is made. Other jurisdictions sometimes do not have social workers involved in such support. Some of these children have come through horrible experiences, and at times a social worker may see fit to ensure that the child or young person is provided with counselling or other mental health supports in advance of the rigorous application process. The social worker may believe it would be unwise and not in the child's best interest to put him or her through numerous interviews and applications while in a vulnerable state. Such actions could cause undue trauma to the child. I emphasise this rigorous application process. Is the decision to delay wrong then? Does it necessarily have a negative impact? The report states that the research has noted that the decision to delay an application may have a negative impact but that this is not necessarily so.

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