Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

While I know I started with the National Women's Council of Ireland report, which is the most recent report that looks at DSGBV, inter-agency issues come into emotional abuse, child sexual abuse and neglect. We must remember that gardaí often see a lot more of the community than many others and are a vital source of support for the work of social workers and referrals, so it involves that broader piece. While there are benefits and positive developments under the joint working protocol, it is inconsistent. If often turns on local personalities and local practice and procedures.

A change of one or two key people on either side can undo that. We need to look at more structural issues.

Barnahus is an excellent model and I do not want to be seen to be undermining that. It is exactly the sort of thing I have been arguing we need for a long time. The challenge is that it is very limited. I understand there will be a centre in Galway, Dublin and Cork but areas outside those cities will not be very well served. It is also mostly focused on child sexual abuse which leaves behind the domestic, sexual, gender-based violence issues and issues of neglect and welfare. We must bear in mind that neglect and welfare often account for the largest number of referrals in the various Tusla areas. The children's advocacy centre model in America, which predates Barnahus, is much broader and operates on similar levels where all the agencies sit around the table. The reason Barnahus works is that all the agencies sit around the table. We need that in every Tusla local area office, not just three centres in the country.

The bottom line is that we need to do more to support victims, children and vulnerable families. We can do that quickly and without extra resources by ensuring the right structures are in place and creating co-location or co-working between duty social workers and An Garda Síochána's divisional protected services units, or seconding these staff. That way, without extra resources, we can ensure we will support victims who need support and the State will go a long way towards preventing a repeat of previous failures.

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