Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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My parliamentary assistant, Mr. Luke Silke, was in contact with the Department of Justice regarding the flaws within the Garda vetting system. I understand, however, it is not investigating the disclosures made by Aontú because of that Department's interpretation of the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act.

In recent months, I was contacted by an individual who alleged that she and her siblings were severely abused while in foster care in this country in the 1980s and 1990s. Tusla has ascribed the pseudonym "Alice" to the individual and has produced an internal case review of her life, dated 2020, known as the Alice report. Alice has furnished me with a copy of that report. "Morning Ireland" has also broadcast a piece on Alice's life. It interviewed her sister, Miss H. A major discrepancy exists between the findings of Tusla's Alice report and a recent email exchange between Miss H and the Garda data protection unit. Tusla states in the Alice report that the biological son of Miss H's foster mother was accused by Miss H of child sexual abuse, that he confessed the child sexual abuse to the Garda, that a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, and that the DPP decided not to prosecute.

In an email exchange with the Garda data protection unit this year, Ms H was informed that the Garda has located a PULSE entry relating to her report of abuse in 1999. However, the Garda noted that no suspected offender is named nor is there any detail lodged. In a separate email, it is stated that it does not appear the incident was forwarded to the DPP. This statement from the Garda is obviously completely at odds with the Tusla statement in the Alice report, which claimed the DPP had decided not to prosecute. In its moves to clarify this matter, the Garda has been inconsistent, has raised more questions than answers and has retraumatised Alice and Ms H. Again, the Department of Justice has been furnished with all of the documents I have quoted from. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, met with Alice over the summer and I am very grateful to him for doing so.

The reason I am raising this matter with the Minister of State today is that my parliamentary assistant was very recently contacted by an individual who sent an image that appears to show the alleged child sex abuser, the person who allegedly abused Ms H, as having recently been appointed to a role within a sports club. The screenshot sent has been furnished to the Minister of State's Department. The individual who contacted us wanted to know how an alleged abuser could have possibly got through the Garda vetting system. The answer is simple. Despite Tusla recording that this alleged abuser actually confessed to the child sex abuse of Ms H and despite the existence of a PULSE reference number on that case, An Garda Síochána has openly admitted it has no record of any detail logged, of a confession or of the name of the alleged abuser. Therefore, a Garda vetting search of the alleged abuser's name would presumably return no results whatsoever. This is an extraordinarily concerning development that could call into question the entire Garda vetting system. It is not unique to this case. How can we possibly have faith in the vetting system if files and confession statements that should be in the PULSE system have simply gone missing?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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This is an extraordinary answer. All of us in the Dáil are responsible to the citizens we serve in the State. The case I have raised is anonymous so the Minister of State actually can refer to it. Ministers refer to many specific cases regularly in this Chamber. The Minister of State is responsible for ensuring the Garda does its job properly. It is not the case that he can just sit on his hands and say it is somebody else's business. It is the responsibility of this Government to ensure citizens are protected.

Alice is a very brave woman, as is her sister, Ms H. They have been relentless in the pursuit of justice. They have been knocking on the doors of a great many agencies over the past two decades. They have had to do that because of responses similar to that the Minister of State has given here. Her name is well known to Tusla and in the local Garda station because of her persistent campaigning. At one point, she triggered a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, investigation into the way her local Garda station handled her abuse case. At the same time as this investigation was under way, she was applying for a house. During the GSOC investigation, the Garda station under investigation told the local authority that Alice had broken the law. One presumes this would have had the negative effect of reducing the chances of her housing application being successful. The Garda has since said this was an error and apologised to Alice for providing the local authority with a fabricated and false record. I believe the Minister of State will agree that, when agents of the State who are meant to protect individuals and vet people properly admit they do not have documents within PULSE records and when they tell a local authority a lie regarding an individual's track record which could reduce his or her opportunity to get a local authority house, it is our responsibility. I would like the Minister of State to answer the question I asked him in the first section.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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We did. All of this information is in the Department's hands.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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All of it has been in the Department's hands for weeks.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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There is no more information there than a Google search would have provided.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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We have.