Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I also thank her for calling for this report which stemmed from the investigation of Tusla’s management of the false allegation made about the Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Like most others, I was truly shocked to hear such major failings had occurred in how Tusla managed allegations of child sexual abuse. HIQA's report highlights the fact that in a number of cases children were left in potentially high risk situations. In my view and that of most reasonable people, including the Minister, this is not only unacceptable, it is also wholly objectionable. The report also identifies serious shortcomings in the screening of child abuse allegations, the development and handling of safety plans for children and the manner in which those subjected to allegations of abuse were communicated with.

Without doubt, the most serious finding made in the report is that there were discrepancies in Tusla’s safety planning practice. This resulted in a number of children being insufficiently safeguarded, while others who also were at potential risk were not safeguarded at all. Moreover, the absence of a streamlined approach for staff to manage allegations made by adults of abuse during their childhood is also completely unacceptable and, frankly, appalling. The lack of a standardised approach has led to inconsistencies and postponements in the management of such cases which have been well discussed. Moreover, it led to the mishandling of the communications on the allegations, if, in fact, any communication took place at all. As legislators, the onus is on us to guarantee that our most vulnerable citizens receive the optimum care we can provide. Where there are incidents of child sexual abuse or cases in which adults have made allegations that they were abused as children, there can be no tolerance of inadequacies such as those which have been highlighted in the report. It is shameful that children are being left at risk of sexual abuse owing to discrepancies in how preliminary inquiries into allegations take place. As Tusla representatives noted at the committee meeting last week, it is difficult on all occasions for Tusla to detect when children are in danger, which is understandable, given the nature of what we are dealing with. It manages risk all of the time and it is a very difficult job for those at the coal face. Nonetheless, there can be no tolerance of the inadequacies such as those highlighted.

The report makes four main recommendations to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. They include establishing an expert quality assurance and oversight group and that the Department and Tusla seek the assistance of the higher education and training bodies to create formal career paths for students and graduates to reinforce child protection and welfare services. Other recommendations have been discussed.

I commend the Minister for her clarity in calling for the recommendations arising from a statutory investigation carried out by HIQA of the management by Tusla of allegations of child sexual abuse against adults to be implemented in full. I also commend her for outlining a number of immediate actions to be taken, including the appointment of Dr. Ryan to chair an independent expert quality assurance and oversight group to drive implementation of HIQA’s recommendations. However, I share Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee's concerns about the timeframe and would be grateful if the Minister outlined it for us. The actions also include finalising proposals, in conjunction with the Minister for Justice and Equality, for reforming the way Tusla and An Garda Síochána deal with historical allegations of sexual abuse, as well as engaging with the Minister for Education and Skills and higher education and training establishments to support Tusla’s workforce. This is an important point which I made at the committee meeting. We were speaking about the management of Tusla, but it is front-line staff who often have to deal with the negativity that naturally goes with the type of feedback a report such this has received. Management is at a distance from the harrowing day-to-day situations with which staff deal. There is an onus on management to protect the staff of Tusla by having proper policies in place for these difficult scenarios.

Other suggested actions include using specialist HR expertise to work with Tusla on its skill mix. This also came up at the committee, given the fact that there is an ongoing challenge when it comes to the mix of skills available in Tusla. Its representatives spoke about the work they had done in trying to reform the way recruitment took place. Certainly, those in charge of Tusla fully recognise that there were inadequacies in the way it had been done in the past. They seemed to be genuinely and actively trying to rectify the position in the new processes.

At this point, it important to point to some positives in the report. In fact, the findings identify examples of good practice by Tusla personnel and a strong commitment on the part of a number of dedicated staff who were striving to provide for best practice in child welfare and protection services. The Minister has spoken about the huge investment the Government has made in the area. In the wider area of child welfare and protection it must be acknowledged that the front-line teams of care and social workers who are supporting children, young people and families do invaluable work to transform young lives, notwithstanding the obvious inadequacies discovered on occasion. Significant progress has been made in dealing with important issues such as the mandatory reporting of abuse, the expansion of the number of family resource centres and the ongoing move towards providing better supports for the victims of child sexual abuse. While this progress is very welcome, the fact remains the report highlights serious inconsistencies in the handling of child sexual abuse cases which simply cannot be tolerated. As such, we need to be formidable in our determination to tackle these issues head-on in order to safeguard children and ensure they receive the protection and support they need and deserve. I intend to work with my colleagues on the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs and the Minister who I have no doubt is committed to this task. I commend her and her officials for their work.