Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Covid-19 public health advice is deliberately intended to restrict the movement of people and to get them to stay at home or as close to home as possible. While this public health advice has a significant impact on us all, it has a very profound impact on children at risk. I refer to children who live in homes that are not safe havens or sanctuaries; unfortunately for some children, home is the exact opposite.

People working in this area say that we have a perfect storm. We have children forced back into abusive homes but without the usual, normal protections provided by the mandated people who help to keep them safe and out of harm's way, like teachers, for example, who would otherwise spot something untoward. They also say that offenders are more active online now and are acting with more freedom. On the one hand, opportunities to abuse are greatly increased while, on the other hand, opportunities to intervene and help are reduced. I am sure we are all concerned about this matter and I ask the Minister to provide an update to the House on it. What has been the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on children at risk and on our ability to identify, protect and support them? One indicator might be referrals to Tusla, for example. Have these increased during this period, as one might expect in the circumstances, due to increases in cases of abuse or have they decreased, as one might fear, due to reduced reporting? I ask the Minister to provide an assessment and to outline her plans to respond and intervene.

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