{"id":17524,"date":"2026-04-28T16:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=17524"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:08:36","slug":"tusla-must-undergo-a-complete-independent-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/tusla-must-undergo-a-complete-independent-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Tusla must undergo a complete independent review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Taoiseach does not believe that Tusla should be subject to an independent review as he believes it will paralyse the organisation, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe volume of social workers in Tusla who have gotten in touch and expressed their concern about recently undertaken reforms is a cause for urgent concern, as is the number of judges who have voiced their frustration at the inaction surrounding court orders and the conditions in Special Emergency Arrangements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, I asked Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin on the floor of the D\u00e1il if he had full and unreserved confidence in Tusla.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn response, the Taoiseach evaded the question, stating that \u2018&#8230;it\u2019s great calling for reviews,\u2019 but \u2018if we keep putting every organisation under every microscope,\u2019 that it will \u2018paralyse organisations.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTusla is already paralysed, as many of its social workers will tell you; to choose not to address this matter condemns the organisation to remaining that way ad infinitum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that something as important as the care of Ireland\u2019s most vulnerable children is something that should be scrutinised to the utmost degree, and that if an organisation will be paralysed if it is subject to an independent review, then that organisation is not fit for purpose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Taoiseach has admitted that he would rather Tusla operates in its current dysfunctional form, one which places children at risk, rather than identify and address the issues it faces head on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must be able to trust Tusla\u2019s governance, its culture, and, most importantly, its operational ability. That trust has been broken too many times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo answer the question which the Taoiseach evaded, I no longer have full and unreserved trust in Tusla, and I believe urgent action must be taken to take children out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn his reply, the Taoiseach said that \u2018we need to care for children today, tomorrow, and the day after\u2019 &#8211; I couldn\u2019t agree with him more, and it is for this reason that a complete independent review of Tusla must be initiated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>April 28th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Taoiseach does not believe that Tusla should be subject to an independent review as he believes it will paralyse the organisation, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cThe volume of social workers in Tusla who have gotten in touch and expressed their concern about recently undertaken reforms is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,540,7,693],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-children","category-press-release","category-tusla"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tusla must undergo a complete independent review - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/tusla-must-undergo-a-complete-independent-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tusla must undergo a complete independent review - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Taoiseach does not believe that Tusla should be subject to an independent review as he believes it will paralyse the organisation, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. 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