Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)

While the State cannot control every tragedy, we do have a duty to respond to tragic deaths such as this with clarity and compassion, and that means heeding the ombudsman's recommendations. One of the ombudsman's recommendations relates to the Minister's Department where he is looking for immediate engagement with his office to find a resolution to the many limitations with the NRP in accessing information, engaging with other agencies and fundamental governance pending the establishment of a new statutory child death review mechanism. Which is the lead Department? Can we get some clarity on that? When will that happen? Will a cross-departmental group be set up and will we see progress on this? Unfortunately, these tragic deaths really underscore the need for this mechanism and we need to see follow through from the Government. I want to make sure I can do that and I need to know who I will be following up with.

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