The chairman of the child protection agency Tusla has said that no longer having a cabinet minister with responsibility for children would be “a mistake that we will live to regret”. There have been suggestions in recent weeks that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs may be downgraded in any new government formation and that the position of Minister for Children might cease to be a full cabinet post. The minister for children was given full cabinet status by the Fine Gael-Labour coalition which took office in March 2011. That case “would bring a tear to a stone”, said Mr Rabbitte. Mr Rabbitte said he thinks “it’s obvious that the State did not come to the rescue of the young women or children in that particular, terrible case”.

Source: The Irish Times June 16, 2020 15:33 UTC