Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

On some level, the Bill is fairly straightforward. Nobody will complain about a greater number of judges being delivered in our judicial system. As has been said by my colleagues, and it will be said by many others, the major issue is that the system is not fit for purpose in that court cases in the State can take at least one and a half times longer than the European average. Obviously, that should not be the case. As Deputy Carthy said, we need to make sure not only that we have more judges but also that we have all of the adequate staff to deliver something that is a bit more fit for purpose. We all know justice should be swift, and that is an absolute right. The Bill needs to be expedited insofar as possible.

This has been an ongoing issue. Many of us, as constituency TDs, have had representations made to us regarding very brutal cases. I commend Deputy Carthy on the presentation in the audiovisual room earlier with victims and survivors of sexual violence. I would like to think there would be support across the House for the Bill and the simple idea of civil protection orders being provided to those who have been through absolute hell and need vital support. We are talking about those who are survivors and the victims of sexual and gender-based and domestic violence.

There have been some improvements, but many will say it has been insufficient in terms of how the entire system deals with people, in particular from the point of view of protecting and believing them and ensuring that justice is delivered. Beyond that, we need to provide protection to people who, unfortunately, have found themselves in positions that are beyond vulnerable. We need to do everything to remove this issue from society as much as possible.

Unfortunately, we will never be able to do all that we would like, but we need to make sure we have a far better and more robust system to look after those people. I do not think many here would not raise issues in respect of safeguarding. There are proposed changes to the Child Care Act and the Child and Family Agency Act. The only thing we can say about Tusla in the past while is that, unfortunately, people who thought they could not be shocked have been absolutely shocked by the ongoing investigations into Kyran Durnin, Daniel Aruebose and the shocking case of the ten-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted while under the care of Tusla.

I would add my voice to those of my colleagues in respect of the disgraceful language used by Tusla in talking about a child having absconded. This is an utterly vulnerable child who was under the protection of the State, and the State failed miserably. We need to make sure that there is follow-up and that we have a system that is fit for purpose and far more robust than what we are talking about at the minute.

We have spoken many times about the fact we do not have a system that is fit for purpose in terms of the supports required by families and children. In some cases, we have left children in really difficult circumstances. It is not just about those who are in care; it is also about the fact that we have not put support structures in place. We need to consider this holistically. In many cases, we can carry out interventions at a very early stage when they would be a lot less nuclear than what is sometimes needed at a later stage. We can ensure that family units stay together. Beyond that, we could provide children with a far better life that could lead to worthwhile engagement with society, including education, employment and all of the rest. I hope we will not deal with such dreadful situations again. We need the full information on the case of Vadym Davydenko. We also need to make sure not only that our residential care is fit for purpose and up to scratch but that we look after those people in our care holistically.

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