Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

The establishment of a child death review mechanism, while very welcome, is not in the remit of the Department of children. As the Ombudsman for Children’s recent child death review report outlined, the majority of deaths take place in medical settings, which the Deputy will appreciate is outside of the scope of the Department. It is important to state that.

I welcomed the report entitled Child Death Review: The Case for a National Statutory Review Mechanism for the Deaths of Children in Ireland. I am conscious that the data outlined in the report also highlights that deaths of children in care are only a small subset of the overall number of child deaths occurring in the State. In that regard, the Department has a limited overall input in this respect. However, I assure the Deputy that the Department and I will proactively engage with the nominated lead Department responsible for the delivery of such a mechanism over the lifetime of this Government.

The death of a child in care or known to State services, whether at home, in care or aftercare, is a tragic event and, indeed, the death of a child in any circumstance is a tragic event, but it deeply affects family, friends, carers and staff connected to the child and local communities. Specifically in relation to a child in care, we are fortunate to have in place the national review panel, NRP, which conducts reviews of child death and serious incidents where the child is in care or is known to Tulsa. The NRP is independent in the performance of its functions, making findings of fact and producing reports that are objective and independent of Tusla. The NRP produces reports that are factually based and identify points of learning to improve services provided to children and families.

I am conscious that since its establishment the NRP has played a critical role in identifying systemic issues, obstacles to good practice, and areas for learning to improve services. Tusla has advised that out of the 133 reports that the NRP has produced to date, 90 reports or executive summaries have been published and are available on its website.

I can inform the Deputy that in instances where the NRP makes recommendations which fall outside the remit of both my Department and Tusla, officials within my Department ensure that these recommendations are brought to the attention of the appropriate Department.

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