Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I listened to the Minister's statement with great interest. I listened yesterday to the Minister's statement to the Dáil. Both statements were clear and concise and I thank the Minister for that. They have brought much clarity to several days of mass confusion when things have been changing and moving by the hour. I thank the Minister for being so concise.

However, arising from the statements of the Minister today and yesterday as well as the events of recent days, I have several concerns and perhaps the Minister can address those concerns today.

A major concern relates to the counsellors outsourced by Tusla. A counsellor outsourced by Tusla created the copy-and-paste file, whether in error or otherwise. That employee was an employee of Rian Counselling and not Tusla. When there is a lack of direct responsibility within an organisation and a lack of cultural control within an organisation on all its employees or those acting on its behalf, mistakes and errors arise. I am rather concerned that other errors have arisen because of this lack of control.

Will the Minister explain the reason these counsellors are being outsourced? Is it because of a lack of resources to employ them directly? If that is the case, will the Minister outline how she will tackle that issue? It is of concern that the line of command is being disturbed by a lack of funding and that this, in turn, is impacting negatively on children, people involved in the care of children, other guardians and people who are the subject of vile allegations. It is in the interests of everyone that errors are not made. That is the first concern I wish to put to the Minister.

My second concern relates to a communications issue in Tusla. Will the Minister tell the House how many people are employed in Tusla in the communications department? It is a large organisation with many serious statutory obligations. What has emerged in recent days is the lack of communication or a breakdown in communication. Can the Minister confirm how many people are employed specifically to deal with communications? Will the numbers be beefed up in light of the current scenario?

I have concerns regarding the workings of Cabinet. It is clear that conversations and communications have been happening in an ad hocmanner. Issues as serious as those we are discussing should be discussed in a more formal manner, with proper notes being circulated to other Cabinet members. I take on board the comments of the Minister to the effect that she was being overly cautious, and perhaps that is something she intends to correct in future. Will the Minister explain how she intends to correct that in future? Things should be done in a more official manner. Things should not be done with a nod and a wink and a conversation here or there. Things should be done officially in order that we, as Members of this House and as citizens, can believe collective Cabinet responsibility around important decisions. I call on the Minister to address that.

The Minister made reference to the apology made to the McCabe family by Tusla. This apology was actually delivered to a neighbour. Again, I am keen to know why that apology was delivered to a neighbour and then eventually passed on to the McCabes. Given something as serious as this, one would think that another error would not be made. I call on the Minister to address that.It has been reported that Tusla files were opened on two adult McCabe children. Why did Tusla open files on two adults?