I thank Independent Ireland for bringing forward this motion. It is always important to take opportunities to discuss issues of child welfare and child protection and to ensure that all the regulations relating to those responsible for ensuring children in our State are safe, looked after and cared for adequately and properly are upheld. There are a number of issues I want to speak to in addressing this motion. The first is the allocation of social workers. For a long time now, there has been consistent criticism from judges in case after case where children are not allocated a social worker. With the reforms now under way, social care workers have come to me to tell me they are concerned they are going to be given roles and cases that should be given to social workers. It appears that, because we have such a serious shortage of social workers, an attempt is now being made to allocate children to other professionals who are not social workers to deal with that shortage, which has been an issue for some time now. In a recent response to me, Tusla said that all children and young people will continue to be overseen by social work management. I am concerned as to what "overseen" means. We obviously have a serious shortage of social workers. The idea that social workers would have some oversight responsibility within Tusla is concerning when we do not have enough of them on the ground in the first place. In saying this, I do not mean to diminish social care workers or the other professionals in the sector but social care workers are concerned they are going to be given cases that should be given to a social worker and that they are not qualified to deal with. They have raised that very issue and it needs to be looked at. We need to look at the reforms Tusla is moving ahead with to ensure they are going to make the existing service better. It needs to be better. It is not acceptable for children to be allocated to those in other professional grades rather than to social workers. If that is the plan, it cannot proceed. When I was looking at the number of children who are waiting to be allocated a social worker and the number of children allocated to other professional grades instead, I was reminded of the HIQA report into Tusla in the Dublin north city service area that was published last year. I have read a number of the report's findings into the record on a number of occasions. HIQA found poor governance and oversight at all management levels and that governance systems risks identified during an earlier inspection had not been addressed when inspectors came back for a second inspection. We have to remember the impact of not allocating social workers in a timely manner. I will again cite an example I have cited here a number of times. One of the implications, as identified in that HIQA inspection report, is that a child with a disability, who is non-verbal, was left awaiting the completion of a preliminary inquiry and safety planning for over two months. The worst finding of the report HIQA published is that, in the questionnaire the service itself returned ahead of that second inspection, it said it was compliant in almost every area. When the second inspection was carried out, it was found the service was compliant in very few areas but had misled HIQA in that questionnaire. There were really serious findings in that report. If we are now looking at a mechanism where people do not need to be qualified social workers when we already have serious issues with oversight and governance, that mechanism needs to be looked at again. There has recently been an issue with therapies for children, particularly play therapy, in the east and south east of the State. Tusla attempted to pull vital therapies for children in Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary. These were due to be withdrawn at the end of this month. Foster carers in those counties put up a fight and a temporary resolution has been found. A similar issue is ongoing in Waterford. The idea that vital therapies would be taken away from children in care, particularly those in the care of foster carers who rely on those therapies and supports for the children in their care, is just incredible in this day and age. We need to see a similar resolution for Waterford so they do not have to battle like those in Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary had to. I will move onto the special emergency arrangements. In this State in 2026, there should not be a single child in an unregulated and uninspected setting of any shape or form. It should not happen. The reason it is happening is that we have not built capacity in residential care and special care in the State. I note the Minister's amendment to this motion states that Tusla is beginning to build capacity. That needs to be ramped up as quickly as possible. We cannot have children in unregulated and uninspected settings. It is happening all of the time and Tusla appears to be more and more reliant on it. As was referred to earlier, Tusla has referred five providers to the Garda National Vetting Bureau with regard to concerns over Garda vetting. The idea that Garda vetting is not even checked in these settings as a basic requirement is really concerning. We need to see a ramping up of investment. That is where the frustration grows. It is sometimes too easy to blame Tusla and to point the finger at it. The Department and the Minister need to step up for children in care an awful lot more. Children who are in the care of the State are all of our responsibility. Everybody plays a role in child protection and child welfare, from childcare settings to our schools and the workplace. It is not just Tusla. We all have a responsibility. The Department and the Minister need to step up, particularly when it comes to residential places, capacity and special care. I have raised the issue of special care with the Minister many times. Of 26 beds, 15 are open today. There has been an ongoing and consistent issue with staffing special care beds. It is a challenging environment. Of that, there is no doubt. However, judges are concerned and are telling young people they have to go to special care but there are no beds for them. In some cases, there are threats to these children's lives but we have no bed for them although we have a number of idle beds in the State. It is not acceptable. We must get those beds staffed and open by whatever means necessary. The Minister's amendment makes the point that the number of foster parents is increasing. I have raised issues regarding foster carers and parents with her many times. Based on the Tusla figures I have, the numbers are falling. The Minister referred to 223 new foster carers coming in during 2025 but she did not mention that 250 ceased fostering that same year. Of course, foster carers cease fostering for a number of reasons but the number of foster carers is falling. In 2024, we had 3,809. Last year, we had 3,782. In every year since 2019, the number has fallen. In 2019, we had 4,130. We have more demand and more need and yet the number of foster carers is falling at a time when we need more of them. The single best place, setting or environment for a child who is in the care of the State is with a foster family. It is the place where they will be shown care and unconditional love, perhaps for the first time in their lives. We need to do an awful lot more to support our foster carers. I will again note that they get no State pension after decades of providing that level of care. Some have supported hundreds of children but, when they get to pension age, they have no State pension. It is unacceptable and we need to move on it as quickly as possible. We need to do a lot more in those three areas of special care, residential care and foster carers. There is now an onus on the Minister and her Department to step up and be more hands-on and involved in supporting children who are in the care of the State. They are the responsibility of all of us, of the Government and of the State. We need to do an awful lot more to support them. We cannot constantly point the finger and blame Tusla. We have an entire Department and it needs to do an awful lot more to support some of the most vulnerable children in our State.

Sentiment score: 0.09