Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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12. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why a number of recommendations made in the Ryan report have yet to be implemented; if the increased budget for Tusla - Child and Family Agency in 2016 will be adequate to implement the recommendations in full. [42682/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (The Ryan Report) was published in 2009 and detailed disturbing and significant levels of historic abuse of Irish children who were placed, by the State, in residential institutions run by religious orders. The Government accepted all of the recommendations of the Ryan Report, and in response developed an Implementation Plan. The Implementation Plan set out a series of 99 actions which addressed the recommendations to improve services to children in care, in detention and at risk.

The Government approved the Fourth and Final Monitoring Report of the Ryan Implementation Group which illustrated that the vast majority of the recommendations (i.e. 94 out of a total of 99), have been implemented or are being implemented on an ongoing basis. The fourth and final report was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 13 March 2015.

It should also be noted that the Monitoring Group, which authored the Report, welcomed the significant positive developments that have taken place over the lifetime of the Implementation Plan. While overall progress in relation to the actions in the Ryan Implementation Plan was good, it was noted that 5 of the 99 actions were not yet complete, namely actions 1, 65, 75, 76 and 96. Actions 65, 75 and 76 relate to the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) as follows:

- Action 65 - a longitudinal study over ten years was to be undertaken which would follow young people who leave care, in order to map their transition into adulthood;

- Action 75 - a professionally managed national archive was to be developed as a central repository for the records for all children in care; and

- Action 76 - records created in non-statutory agencies should be secured in the national archive.

These actions have not been implemented to date due to the resource implications and the challenging economic environment we faced. In this regard, the Deputy will be aware that I have secured an allocation of funding of €676m in 2016 for Tusla. This is an increase of €38m over the 2015 provision and may give Tusla the opportunity to progress a number of valuable projects, including the Ryan actions. The Performance Statement issued to Tusla from my Department for 2016 references these projects, and my Department will engage with Tusla to explore options on how best to proceed in relation to these actions in the context of Tusla's business planning processes for 2016.

The remaining actions, Nos 1 and 96, relate to the Department of Education and Skills and the Court Services, respectively. I have asked to be kept informed of developments in this regard.

In relation to all five outstanding recommendations I will continue to liaise with relevant Government colleagues and Tusla as regards implementation. I have undertaken to keep the Government informed of progress until full implementation is achieved, and I intend to revert to Government in early 2016 with an update in this regard.