Peadar Toibín “Mothers and fathers are not raising their kids,” said Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD to The Irish Catholic, following a press release published after the tragic M9 crash in which he questioned the State’s ability to support vulnerable children in its care.
Deputy Tóibín said that while the State and Tusla must be held accountable for its gaps in knowledge of children in its care and its inability to provide secure placements for them, the first step to supporting children is to strengthen the family. He pointed out that much of the current discussion around ‘tradwives’ overshadows the role of the traditional father, a role he said must be promoted in Irish society.
“We need to get into a situation whereby we help and incentivise and support fathers to remain involved in the raising of their children,” said the Meath West TD. “All this talk of ‘tradwives’, how come there’s no talk about ‘tradfathers’?”
“Young people growing up today need father figures, and they need people to keep them in line in relation to raising them.”
Deputy Tóibín called on Minister for Children Norma Foley TD in the press release following the M9 crash to explain “why residential capacity still does not exist and how the state will help strengthen families so that they can raise their children.” He emphasised the Government’s failure in relying on State care, which he said “may well have led, in part, to the innocent family suffering horrendous injury on the M9.”
Illustrating the difficult situation that many children in State care are left in, Deputy Tóibín explained that through a Parliamentary Question (PQ), he learned that 13 children have been missing from Tusla’s residential care for over 6 months.
“The State has a massive responsibility to make sure that the residential services that it provides are proper ones that are helpful in raising children in that scenario.”
Additionally, in response to three PQs submitted by Deputy Tóibín to the Minister for Children inquiring about the number of children in Tusla’s care who received criminal convictions in the past five years and whether their progression through the criminal justice system is recorded, Tusla stated they were unable to provide these figures.