I welcome the core intention of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill. Any measure that seeks to strengthen the legal framework for protecting our most vulnerable children from those who would do them harm deserves full support. The provisions aimed at safeguarding children from the influence of individuals guilty of major crimes, enhancing care orders, and promoting better interagency co-operation are, on paper, positive steps. We must always strive to put the welfare of the child first in our laws. However, I must speak plainly. Many people across this country will find it profoundly galling that Tusla, the agency entrusted with child protection, is being further empowered and charged with making these orders, when it stands accused of being institutionally unfit for the task it already has. There are many serious questions about Tusla. As a public representative, I certainly have no confidence in it. Time and again we have seen failures that should shake the confidence of every parent, child and citizen in this country. Just last year there was an horrific alleged rape of a ten-year old child in the care of the State at Citywest - a young girl who was under Tusla's guardianship. That is the fact of the matter. She absconded and was allegedly assaulted in circumstances that raise the most serious questions about supervision, placement safety and basic duty of care. How does a child in State care end up in such danger? This was not an isolated tragedy. It is in fact symptomatic of a deeper systemic problem within the system. Let us not forget the ongoing scandal that I have consistently highlighted in this House, which to my mind has not been effectively addressed. The findings of the sexual exploitation research programme, SERP, report were very disturbing. The report was carried out by academics from UCD and it was entitled Protecting Against Predators. The report raises serious questions for Tusla that have not been adequately addressed. The State should hang its head in shame that it has not adequately dealt with this report, when the facts and evidence are laid bare in the SERP report. The report clearly laid out how predatory gangs, often organised groups of men, are targeting and sexually exploiting vulnerable children, particularly girls, while they are under the care of Tusla. That is under the State's watch. Children are coerced into sexual acts in exchange for gifts. They are preyed upon because of their vulnerability, instability and the gaps in the system that is meant to protect them. This is grooming and exploitation on a scale that should urgently demand a full public inquiry. It should demand decisive action because the report is very disturbing, yet the response has been nothing short of criminally inadequate. This Bill is about protecting children from the influence of those guilty of major crimes. That is certainly right and necessary but even as we debate these measures here today, unknown numbers of vulnerable children remain in the care of the State - in the care of Tusla, acting as the State guardian, and they are being failed day in, day out. Young girls are being raped and exploited day in, day out, under the State's watch. Children are going missing from placements and are exposed to exploitation. The basic safety of these children cannot be guaranteed, yet the Minister wants to give Tusla more power, even though there are serious questions hanging over it already. It does not make sense to me. The State has taken on the role of parent for these boys and girls, yet too often it fails in that most fundamental duty. We cannot pass legislation that expands Tusla's role without simultaneously demanding radical reform, accountability, transparency and a proper inquiry. We need independent oversight, proper resourcing of front-line staff, rigorous vetting of placements and a zero-tolerance approach to failures that put children at risk. The public rightly expects that when the State removes a child from their family, it provides something better, something more stable and not a new set of dangers. I support the Bill's protective aims, but I urge the Minister to address these uncomfortable truths about Tusla. Our children deserve far more than fine words and amended legislation. They deserve a child protection system that adequately protects them. Anything less is a betrayal of the most vulnerable in our society, and it is neglect. I ask once again for the disturbing findings in the Sexual Exploitation Research Programme, SERP, report, which was compiled by UCD academics, to be looked at and for Tusla to be brought to an inquiry as soon as possible because it has to be. It is going to be a big scandal in years to come. There is no doubt about that. By ignoring it, it is making it worse, and it is certainly making the suffering more unbearable for all of those victims who are mainly girls.

Sentiment score: -0.11