Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 November 2018
20. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action she has taken to hold Tusla, collectively and named persons, to account for the serious deficiencies and problems highlighted in the disclosures tribunal report. [45830/18]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that I strongly welcome the report of the Disclosures Tribunal that has fully vindicated Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
I have been extremely disappointed by the findings in relation to Tusla. The Tribunal quite properly finds that the performance of Tusla and certain individuals within fell far short of the standard we should expect from a public body with such an important role.
I have raised the Tribunal's findings with the Board of Tusla and have asked for a formal response to the report. I want the response to set out the evidence of change that will prevent a person's reputation being traduced in this way from ever happening again.
I have also secured funding in 2019 that will enable the fundamental changes needed, some of which I am informed are already underway.
Tusla has accepted that the practice and governance in this case was exceptionally poor and has commenced a HR process around the allegations of serious misconduct. It would not be appropriate for me to comment any further on this process prior to its completion.
The performance by named members of staff in the evidence before the Tribunal is a matter for Tusla to manage, utilising its internal disciplinary and performance management procedures.
I met with the Board of Tusla following the publication of the Disclosures Tribunal report, and expressed serious concerns about the Tribunal’s strong criticisms of what it saw as poor and inadequate co-operation by Tusla with its work. The Board of Tusla has undertaken to communicate with the Tribunal in order to understand the nature of these findings and learn from them.
The original notification which concerned an allegation of abuse in this case concerned a person who was an adult at the time of notification. The case was therefore managed under the policy for retrospective cases.
This is a challenging area for Tusla, as social workers must balance child protection and fair procedures towards the person who is the subject of the allegation. A revised Tusla policy for such cases, which will replace the 2014 policy, will be published shortly.
I want to reiterate that a culture of openness and integrity is essential in order to learn from the grievous mistakes of the past. It is the duty of management and staff to correct mistakes when they happen, and the duty of the Board to hold management to account to ensure that this happens. It is my duty as Minister to hold the Board to account, and I will continue to do this.
