The establishment of Ireland's first dedicated Children and Families Agency (aka Tusla) represents an essential response to recent reports of shortcomings in child protection childhood, including inconsistency. Key to the Agency's work plan is the emphasis on partnership and inter-agency working (dcya.gov.ie 2011). This essay/assignment is to:• Highlight some events relevant to the development of the Agency for Children and Families and how it is linked to inter-agency working.• Examine the benefits and challenges of inter-agency working.• Look at examples/experiences relating to the operation of new systems (shared by professionals abroad).• Discuss how ECCE professionals can support interagency working.The CDI is used as a case study to support this project. Tusla is Ireland's first dedicated children and family agency, launched by the Department for Family and Youth Affairs (DCYA). Tusla focuses primarily on partnership and inter-agency working. “The government says this is the most effective response to the repeated and tragic failures of the past” (Five Rivers Fostering 2014). The agency takes over the role of the three current operational bodies. Their services include a range of services, such as child protection and welfare, alternative care, family support and preschool services. As highlighted on the Tusla website, the agency operates under the Child and Family Act 2013 and has brought together four thousand staff and a budget of over six million from existing bodies. The agencies' primary responsibility is to promote the safety and well-being of children by seeking improvement in areas such as workforce, development and partnership working (tusla.ie/services 2013).DCYA (2011) in partnership with The Atlantic Philanthropies we established the Prevention and Early Intervention Program...... middle of document ......Evaluation of the Early Years Program. Child Care Practice• Child-centered practice; Lesson 3 (O'Donoghue. M 2014• Newzealand.govt.nz (2011) Social Work Now: working together to protect children in cases of neglect: complexity and the four Cs Available from: http://www.cyf . govt.nz/documents/about-us/publications/social-work-now/372390-swnow-oct2011-lores.pdf [Accessed 20/02/2014]• Social sciences at ARROW@DIT (2008) Conference Papers; Development Initiative: Developing Quality Services ARROW@DIT: Dublin• Tusla (2013) [online] Tusla – towards a shared purpose Available at: tusla.ie/uploads/content/tusla-towards-a-shared-purpose.pdf• Working together for children (2011) A review of international evidence of inter-agency working; to inform the development of children's services boards in Ireland.