Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

To add to the sentiments expressed earlier, there is no doubt serious sadness, shock and disbelief at the discovery of the remains in Donabate yesterday of the young boy, Daniel Aruebose. I think we all send our deepest condolences to everybody who loved Daniel. The community is grieving and everybody right across the island is horrified at what happened, and heartbroken. It is a very sensitive matter, as the Tánaiste mentioned, but we cannot ignore the issues it raises in the form of serious questions about child protection, Tusla and the Minister.

We still do not have an independent chair to oversee the checks of children involved in Tusla cases that were closed during the pandemic. That has to be done urgently. These 42,000 case reviews need to be done without any more delay. However, it simply does not go far enough and our spokesperson, Claire Kerrane, has been calling for this for quite a period of time now. She has asked that these checks should be a normal part of its work. We should not have a situation where in the space of a year, two children who had been in touch with Tusla have been missing, presumed dead, and gone for years. Beyond the 42,000 case reviews, which just relate to cases closed during the pandemic, does the Tánaiste now accept that as a matter of course there has to be a lookback and check for those children who have been in contact with Tusla? What action will the Government take to make sure that this never happens again?

See this speech in context