Press Release: Launch of the new Child & Family Agency – Tusla

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre welcomes the launching of Tusla, The Child and Family Agency

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, CEO, DRCC said “This week we are hearing  once again, as a result of the Northern Ireland Institutional Abuse Inquiry,  the harrowing experiences of children on this island, who have been the victims of sexual, emotional and psychological abuse in state run institutions.  Over the past number of years, we have heard similar stories of the abuse of our children in Southern Ireland, through the publication of the Ferns, Ryan and Murphy reports.

At last, with the launch of the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, we are seeing the implementation of one of the main and most important recommendations from all the publications and reports. Bringing together all the agencies, including statutory, voluntary and community agencies, under one agency whose responsibility will be the protection of our children. Tusla is tasked also with a commitment to early intervention so that the atrocities of the past committed against the most vulnerable in our society, our children, will be prevented to the best of our ability as a society.

We congratulate Minister Frances Fitzgerald on her continued tenacity in driving through the legislation and in ensuring that Tusla came into being. We welcome her foresight in the appointment of Nora Gibbons as its first chairperson and we look forward to working with the CEO, Gordon Jeyes,  in delivering on his vision of Ireland  being the healthiest and safest place for children to grow up in Europe.

We ask that the resources be made available to Tusla, so that it can deliver on all that it sets out to do.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, Chief Executive, DRCC                        01 6614911 / 086 809 9618