Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have seen media reports of Sinn Féin's kangaroo courts and how they were doing their things. I see today that the Government is trying to do the same type of thing. All of us here are 100% for child protection. Trying to use it for media spin and political gain is the wrong thing to do. We are here to protect children. That is what we are here to do. This kangaroo court system that you are trying to do and the populist thing you are trying to do is totally wrong.

We talk about Tusla. There are some very good people within Tusla, I will vouch for that. However, some stuff that Tusla is doing is absolutely disgraceful. I have been involved with many people who had foster children. Tusla got involved with unbelievable things that put the child's welfare at risk when the foster parents were trying to do right by the child. It came up with these things that were actually affecting the child. This is what I am referring to when I am talking about Tusla. It is the interpretation of one person in Tusla that changes it from that position and hands it down to other people saying, "This what you've got to do", irrespective of whether it is right or wrong. People in Tusla are there to protect children, but a minority within Tusla tell other people how to do things even though it is incorrect and is putting the child's welfare at risk. That is wrong.

It is just as wrong as what is happening here today with political games and trying to make political gain out of using children. To me that is 100% wrong and I do not stand by things like that. If you want to have a pop at Sinn Féin, I do it all the time when I do not agree with Sinn Féin but I do it publicly and I do not have a problem standing back from it. In the same way I have a go at the Government when it is wrong and it has a go at me. This kangaroo court thing, however, has to stop. Represent the people you are supposed to represent and protect the people you are supposed to protect. Use our time here valuably to ensure they are protected and not this kind of hypocritical crap you are going on with.

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