It is with further horror that I raise the issue of the continued neglect of our children who are suffering at the hands of this State. I raised the issue last week in light of the report of the Ombudsman for Children.

Today, I highlight the report by Government rapporteur for child protection, Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, who commented that there was a much greater co-operation needed between An Garda Síochána and Tusla to protect our most vulnerable children. There are reports of cases where children were taken from their homes under the powers of section 12 by gardaí only to be returned later that day by Tusla. We understood after the children's referendum in 2012 that more protection rights and care would be afforded to our children. However, report after report published in recent weeks highlight the gross inadequacies and chronic systems failures within organisations in this State that are charged with the responsibility of looking after our children.

Widespread neglect of children under Tusla's watch is endemic. As we know, Tusla is under-resourced along with other areas of the public service. The Government's failed recruitment policy in Tusla and other areas of the HSE has left many posts unfilled due to the inability to recruit or retain staff. The staff in situ are swamped by huge caseloads and the massively complex nature of the cases they handle. I have great admiration and respect for those social workers working within the limited-resourced Tusla. I also note that the report acknowledges the compassion members of the Garda Síochana had for the children they removed from their parents' care under section 12, whereby many rank and file gardaí stayed long after their rostered hours to ensure the appropriate care was provided for children.

All of us in this House have harrowing stories of shortcomings within the system that present at our clinics. However, Dr. Shannon's report alone gives 91 examples of harrowing cases of the abject failure by this State in the care of our children. I ask that the Minister attend the House so we can have an open debate on Tusla and the resources available to it and the massive caseloads that are not being dealt with on a daily basis. It is something we have all encountered. I do not know what the solution is and I do not know how the current social workers will get through their caseloads.

I also raise the issue of hospice services. Harold's Cross hospice in Dublin gives care to 700 patients each year. That is an average of two patients dying daily who were in receipt of its services. Enough cannot be said of how appreciative people are for the care and support given to many families by Harold's Cross Hospice alone and the hospice movement in general. I commend my colleague, Senator Gallagher on raising this last week. Proper credit ought to be given to the hospice movement.

I raise the same issue as Senator Ardagh. I call on the Leader to organise for the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zaponne, to come to the House. I want to impress the importance of this today because of the report on child protection by Dr. Geoffrey Shannon, which was commissioned by An Garda Síochána and published yesterday. It is a damning report. It highlights really serious issues and grave concerns about failings to protect Irish children. It addresses a number of matters. In summary this report notes a lack of adequate out-of-hours social work services; a lack of access to case files to enable effective decisions for child safety and child protection; a lack of reliable data on the PULSE system in relation to section 4 removals; which is the statutory process of removing a child for its safety and welfare; a lack of training, resources and support for gardaí in exercising their functions and duties in relation to section 12 removals; a lack of clarity around the responsibilities of Tusla - and we do not need to talk more about that, we have talked about it so much here in the past few weeks - and the role and functions of An Garda Síochána and other State agencies. There is a shortfall here and a misunderstanding about the roles, functions and statutory responsibilities of all these organisations supposedly involved in the welfare and protection of our children. The use of Garda stations as a place of safety for a child, which is against international best practice, has been highlighted in this report by Dr. Shannon. There are concerns about the use of some private fostering services. These are really serious issues. In summary, Dr. Shannon makes 17 recommendations in his report. Every time there is a controversy in this country, the Government of the day commissions a report, recommendations are made and the report sits on a top shelf gathering dust. Shame on us if we do nothing here today.

Dr. Shannon has clearly set out strong, workable and practical solutions that need to be addressed in 17 recommendations. I call on the Government, An Garda Síochána and Tusla to commit to implementing all the recommendations in his report. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to come to the House to debate the issues with a view to setting out a comprehensive plan to address the recommendations within two weeks? Hopefully, I will have the support of all Senators in seeking a full report on how the Department will roll out the plans that have been set out. I would also like a full plan outlining a detailed implementation strategy to address all the recommendations, which should be presented to the House within three months. Ultimately, recommendations are meaningless unless action is taken. We have an opportunity today to start this process and to have the Minister in the House to set out how she will address our concerns.

I refer to the same subject. I ask that the Minister be requested to come to the House as soon as possible to discuss the report of the special rapporteur on child protection. The horrific findings of this report should not be a surprise because children across the State continue to be neglected and abused in their own homes. The perpetrators of these crimes and this awfulness in many instances are the parents of the children but the State has a responsibility to protect the children, including under the Constitution, which provides for the State to cherish all our children.

Many crocodile tears have been shed about how children were treated in the past, yet this abuse continues. The number of social workers needed to keep children safe is wholly inadequate and it has been for many years under successive Governments. Children going home from school today are afraid of the abuse and the neglect they will face but nobody will come to help. Their neighbours and relatives call social services and wait for a social worker who never comes. The Minister needs to come to the House to outline what plans she is putting in place. Urgency is needed in this regard because an hour or a day in the life of a child who is going through torture and abuse is a long time. Last night's "Prime Time" report made clear this abuse is continuing and that is a horrific indictment on us as a State.

I move an amendment to the Order of Business, that Second Stage of No. 9 be taken today or tomorrow. The Bill seeks to help those in financial difficulty by allowing them to access services of the Financial Services Ombudsman even after the six year cut-off point. The longer it takes for this Bill to be enacted, the more suffering will be endured by those in need of solutions. This is an opportunity for the House to prove its worth by facilitating the quick passage of this legislation, which received cross-party support in the Dáil. I hope the Leader can facilitate that.

If the Senator moves an amendment, it has to relate to that day's business.

It is for today.

Otherwise, she will put the Leader in a dilemma. I take it she wants to move the amendment today.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for that clarification.