Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The concerns of a fairly considerable cohort of mothers whose children have been removed from them have been brought to my attention recently. Their children have been removed not because they had bad mothers or bad homes but for other reasons. These mothers are victims of referrals to the system and numerous hearings where attention is not brought to the concerns they brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities and their children are alienated from them. We do not seem to be able to come to grips with it. Will the Minister recognise this problem exists and that Tusla has an obligation to protect children? The Children First legislation is there for that purpose but it does not always apply.

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