Sharon Keogan demands answers over Tusla omission in report
Sharon Keogan criticised the Children's Right Alliance's annual report card for making virtually no mention or assessment of the nearly 6,000 children under the care of Tusla and called for the Minister for Children to appear before the House. She questioned the report's independence and raised concerns that omissions could hide risks including child trafficking.
Report omission
The speech highlighted that the Children's Right Alliance's 300-plus-page report made virtually no mention or assessment of the nearly 6,000 children in Tusla's care. Keogan described this omission as shocking and very worrying given the scale of the group omitted from the assessment.
Questions on independence
Keogan asked for the Minister for Children to appear before the House to answer questions about the report's independence. She noted that the CRA comprises around 150 member organisations, many of which receive funding from Tusla, and asked how a partially government-funded umbrella organisation can be expected to give a neutral assessment of a government agency.
Warnings on child trafficking
The speaker referenced independent voices in the past two years, including Judge Sims, UCD and the Child Law Project, which have warned that shortcomings in Tusla may be exploited for child trafficking. Keogan pressed the Minister to say whether her department has heard these concerns and what plans are in place to address them.
Parliamentary request and accountability
Keogan concluded by calling explicitly for the Minister for Children to appear before the House to answer on both the omission in the report and the wider questions of conflict of interest and child protection risks. The request framed the matter as one of accountability and transparency regarding child welfare oversight.
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Last week the Children's Right Alliance published its annual report card grading the last government's performance in protecting children. While the report is to be credited on delivering a vital and necessary assessment, there is a major and shocking failure in it. In over 300 pages the report makes virtually no mention or assessment of the nearly 6,000 children under the care of Tusla. How can a report on the government's performance in child welfare simply forget to mention this? This is very worrying considering that the CRA consists of around 150 member organisations, many of whom receive funding from Tusla. Consequently I ask on the Minister for Children to appear before this House to answer questions regarding the independence of this report. How can a partially government funded organisation that serves as an umbrella for numerous government sponsors NGOs be expected to give a neutral assessment of a government agency? How does the Department of Children expect to resolve such conflicts of interest? The omission of an assessment on Tusla is extremely concerning for another reason, namely that in the last two years a number of independent voices including Judge Sims, UCD and the Child Law Project, among many others, have all warned that there were serious dangers that shortcomings in Tusla are being exploited for child trafficking. I therefore call on the Minister for Children to appear before us to answer if her department has heard these concerns and what she is planning to do to address them. Thank you.
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