Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I hope to see a lot more of him during the session, given that we have a lot of legislation to go through.

I welcome the Bill. It is common sense. I was not educated through homeschooling. The Minister's Department and Tusla had sole responsibility for homeschooling, and that did not make sense to me.It is wonderful that all education and welfare functions will be with the correct Department. As mentioned by other Senators, we must ensure every support is in put place for the families of children who are being homeschooled . We must also ensure that, as mentioned by Senator Keogan, the children who are falling through the cracks are supported at every opportunity and that the right people are in place to support them.

In his opening statement, the Minister listed the many sections in the Bill. He also mentioned in oversight and said that all of the expertise will be on the board. Everything is falling into place. Hopefully, this legislation is the piece of the jigsaw that will make a difference in many lives.

It has not been always plain sailing with Tusla. I commend the Minister on the hard work he has been doing with Tusla to improve the service and on the funding allocated to the agency in budget 2021. Tusla has a major role to play in the context of much of the legislation that will come through the Houses this session. It is hoped that every social worker is adequately trained to deal with whatever need presents at the agency's door. I ask the Minister to ensure that procedures are reviewed and that staff or upskilled and 100% aware of all of their responsibilities under this legislation and the proposed Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2021. We heard from Aitheantas previously. It recently published a report setting out the fears of members about having to go through the doors of Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland because of their previous trauma, the lack of legislation and us, as a State, not catching up with their needs. I hope that Government and State organisations such as Tusla can catch up with their needs, listen to them and make sure the system in place is more caring than structural and procedural.