Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action being taken to deal with the finding of the recent audit report by the special rapporteur on child protection that there is little or no evidence of child protection training for the majority of gardaí. [26442/17]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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51. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action being taken to deal with the finding of the recent audit report by the special rapporteur on child protection that there is an explicit and deeply held culture of placing more emphasis on-the-job learning than on core training in An Garda Síochána. [26443/17]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the action being taken to deal with the finding of the recent audit report by the special rapporteur on child protection which suggested an inadequate response on the part of Garda management in the area of changes in ethnic and cultural diversity and that there is a lack of training to help gardaí deal with those changes. [26444/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 to 52, inclusive, together.

The report to which the Deputy refers was commissioned by the Garda Commissioner and is a comprehensive examination of the use of section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991 by An Garda Síochána to remove a child from the care of its family where a Garda believes there is an immediate and serious risk to the health and welfare of the child. Clearly this is a very serious decision but an essential element of our child protection system.

While the report found that individual Gardaí go to great efforts to treat children with sensitivity and compassion, it identified serious shortcomings in our child protection system and made a number of recommendations. These include:

- A new Garda Protocol to set out the circumstances in which section 12 may be used,

- A set of Risk Principles to act as guidance in operational decision making by Gardaí,

- Data Capture/Data sharing and review of data held on Pulse,

- Specialised child protection units to be established in the Gardaí – including having social workers assigned to these units,

- Implementation of Children First Act to provide clear guidelines or co-operation between Gardaí and other State Agencies,

- Comprehensive training to be provided to Gardaí reflecting law and international best practice, and

- GRIDO (Garda Racial, Intercultural and Diversity Office) should be expanded and reviewed to ensure that positive work undertaken by the Office is relevant to all members of An Garda Síochána. All members should be required to undergo diversity training.

We now need to act with haste and ensure that we have a clear Roadmap on implementing these recommendations. The Commissioner has commenced an examination of all the recommendations that relate to An Garda Síochána and is committed to engaging with Tusla and other relevant State agencies with a view to taking this work forward without delay. For my part I will certainly give whatever support I can to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in addressing these recommendations and also to the Garda Authorities in their work in putting in place the very necessary reform, policies and procedures to ensure that we can have confidence in our child protection system.

As the Deputy might be aware, this morning I met with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Ms. Katherine Zappone, T.D., to discuss the matter. The meeting was also attended by senior management in Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the relevant Departments.

The Minister for Children and I have agreed that Tusla and An Garda Síochána will work together using the Strategic Liaison Committee to oversee the timely implementation of the recommendations in Dr. Shannon’s report.

Reassurance was provided on the developments underway or already in place across both organisations to ensure a clear and consistent response to children at risk. A range of measures have already been put in place since 2015, to enhance inter-agency cooperation, provide appropriate Garda training and the expansion of the Tusla out-of-hours service. Both Tusla and An Garda Síochána are in full agreement to build on this work and to develop further opportunities to enhance close working and communication such as increased linkage between Tusla and the Garda Youth Diversion Programme.

The Taoiseach has requested the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy to review progress in three months including the findings of the report by Tusla of the 91 cases in Dr. Shannon’s report.