Fred McBride to step down as Tusla chief
Tusla, the child and family agency, will begin the recruitment process for a new CEO after incumbent Fred McBride made the shock announcement that he is leaving the post at the end of September.
The Dundee native had taken on the top job in Tusla in February 2016, having first joined as chief operations officer in October 2013, working under fellow Scot Gordon Jeyes.
There had been, however, no inkling that Mr McBride had been thinking of quitting the job. The deputy chair of the Tusla board, Rory O’Ferrall, said they had accepted “with regret” Mr McBride’s decision.
It is understood a range of factors led to the decision, rather than one single issue, although all Mr McBride had to say was contained in a short statement in which he thanked “the hard-working staff of Tusla and their unstinting commitment in the delivery of child and family support services nationally”.
He also thanked the board and management team, particularly Tusla board chair Norah Gibbons.
The Government has been criticised for not providing Tusla with sufficient resources, particularly in the early years of its operation as a separate entity from the HSE, while Tusla has itself been criticised for a number of issues, including the mishandling of false claims made against Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
Reacting to the announcement, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone said: “I wish to thank Mr McBride for all his work and commitment in leading Tusla, during a time when the agency has developed significantly. I wish him very well in his future career.
Many challenges remain for Tusla but with the ongoing energy of the dedicated workforce, the positive progress of the organisation will continue.
Mr McBride will continue in his role until the end of September when an interim CEO will be appointed. Current chief operations officer Jim Gibson may be a contender for the position, but Tusla yesterday said a formal recruitment process regarding a new CEO “will commence in due course”.
Just this year, in an interview with the , Mr McBride said he was “optimistic” about the future for Tusla while also expressing some concern about the workload it faced.
It emerged last year he had expressed misgivings about the introduction of mandatory reporting, while he has consistently referred to the challenges of recruiting and retaining social workers.
The number of referrals made to Tusla regarding child welfare and protection cases has also steadily increased in recent years.
“You can’t knit social workers and there are only 250 of them graduate a year,” he told this newspaper in January.
Just yesterday, Tusla confirmed its new integrated National Childcare Information System across all 17 social work areas which the agency also cited as one of a number of reforms that had been brought into operation under Mr McBride’s tenure as CEO.
