Many people have been focused on Tusla recently because, unfortunately, we have had a slew of tragic cases. I am talking about Kyran Durnin, Vadym Davydenko, Daniel Aruebose and Oisín Reddin. We also cannot forget the case of the ten-year-old who had been in Tusla's care and the heinous attack on her. The Child Law Project went through a number of other cases that are harrowing. I agree with Deputy Kerrane that it is far too easy to get up in this House and slam Tusla. However, when we had Tusla in front of the children's committee, its representatives were quite specific about the fact that it is understaffed. Given the complexity of the issues that Tusla has to deal with these days, it is set up for failure if it is understaffed. This is not the first time that Deputy Kerrane and I, as well as Deputy Carthy in relation to international protection issues in particular, have raised these issues. We are talking about social workers. At the last count, there were 1,728 employed and the number rises to 1,754 with agency staff. Senior Tusla staff told us that number is 300 short of the complement required to deliver what is needed. There are 1,422 social care workers, but that is at least 100 too few. We are also talking about foster carers. My heart goes out to them. Any time I have engaged with those dealing with foster care on a long-term basis or an emergency set-up, I have been completely blown away. We need to commend them and give them any help that we can. There are issues that can be resolved, whether it is the pension issue or other specific issues that impact on how they carry out their day-to-day operations. In 2025, there were 3,782 foster carers. This was down significantly from 2019, when there were 4,130. I was told in a private conversation after that committee meeting that we are short at least 500 foster carers. That tells us straight out that we have a system that has an insufficient number of staff to deliver on the issues that are out there. While I welcome the fact that there is a new operational model and a different way of triaging and trying to introduce social care workers and social workers where needed, we have heard of multiple cases where a social worker was needed by some of most vulnerable in society but was not available for them. We also know that not only does Tusla deal with some complex and difficult circumstances, it also has a remit in relation to early interventions. We have not seen the State take this sufficiently seriously in relation to those supports that are needed by families and communities. Many of them have been failed. We are, in particular, talking about the supports needed in areas of high deprivation, where there are families who have had to deal with trauma, poverty, addiction and, at times, the failure of mental health services. It is being left too late because we do not have a system that has the capacity to enter. The circumstances and situation are allowed to get too bad. That is not to take away from the work Tusla staff do. I have interacted with many of those working with Tusla in recent times and they are doing fabulous work while under pressure. I have not seen that this organisation has the capacity to deal with the need that is out there. We talk about special emergency arrangements being unregulated. That says it all. We have created a system that does not have the capacity to look after those whom we need to look after. I welcome some of the work around apprenticeships and such. They are an absolute necessity. However, we need to make sure we have enough social workers, social care workers and foster carers. Alongside that, we also need to make sure we have a system that can meet families where they are at and that we then have the capacity to deal with those complex needs. At this point, it is failure. We need to see real improvement because we are talking about some of the most vulnerable in our society.

Sentiment score: 0.05