Whistleblower Controversy Child Protection Issues Must Be Prioritised

All parties must recognise the relevant child protection issues that have arisen from the current whistleblower controversy, the Chairman of the Join Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs, Fine Gael's Jim Daly has said.

Calling for these issues to be prioritised, Deputy Daly said: "The child protection issues raised by the blatant and unacceptable errors on the part of Tusla must be the top priority for all stakeholders in this fast moving story.

"I believe that an international expert should be appointed to carry out a root and branch review of the systems in place in Tusla so that we can get to the bottom of exactly what occurred.

"Commentators need to move on from what is a side show of who said what and realise that the single most important detail to emerge here is the staggering incompetence of Tusla, the agency tasked with looking after the welfare of our most precious resource – our children."

The Chairman of the Committee on Children & Youth Affairs went on to confirm that he has today written to An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, to request the appointment of an international expert from a similar type of agency to Tusla to review the internal systems and practices within Tusla without delay.

He continued: "Tusla was created along similar structures to the HSE and I believe we need a full independent review of Tusla's processes and protocols.

"It is incomprehensible that an individual could make such a catastrophic error without any oversight from other members of staff or internal structures. This appointment must be made without any delay to ensure the optimum systems are employed at the heart of the state agency tasked with one of the most responsible jobs in the state – looking after the welfare of our children."

(MH/LM)