Tusla has said that initial indications show there were no child protection concerns in relation to the agency's dealings with the family of a boy who is now missing and presumed dead.
A search entered its third day in Donabate in north Co Dublin for the boy, who would now be aged seven.
Part of the perimeter of a field adjacent to the original site in the search was also cordoned off by gardaí.
It has concluded for the day and will resume tomorrow.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Tusla Chief Executive Kate Duggan confirmed that Tusla provided the family with care and support from 2017 to 2020.
She said that the initial indications that there were no child protection concerns were based on reports received from the service involved with the family.
Ms Duggan said that the intervention and engagement with the family "centred around support", which primarily involved intensive and direct parenting supports.
She said involvement did not conclude due to the Covid-19 pandemic, rather that it was deemed to be the most appropriate step to take at that time.
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"It's very important to say, our direct involvement didn't end because of Covid-19. It's because it was deemed to be the most appropriate step to take.
"And for many of those families [whose support ends] then, they engage with local services, family resource centres, creches.
"And more importantly, they and professionals in their life, know to come back, to make contact with us [Tusla] again if anything about their circumstances should change or if they want help from us as an agency," Ms Duggan said.
Ms Duggan will meet Minister for Children Norma Foley in the coming days to finalise the details of a review of cases closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Duggan was asked by Ms Foley on Tuesday to undertake well-being checks "on all cases, in particular in relation to children during Covid-19, particularly beginning with cases that were closed".
Ms Duggan said that "in or around 38,000 children" fall into the category of a "wellbeing check" that has been requested by the minister.
"What we are working through now is, I suppose, really looking to see how we prioritise and categorise that number of children, and establishing things like if they're in education, if they are accessing services," she added.
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She said a "rapid review" that has been ordered of the case will take "about two weeks".
Ms Duggan defined a rapid review as "an objective, to the service, opinion" about whether the decision-making at that time in relation to how the case was managed was proportionate and correct.
She said the findings of the rapid review will be shared with the Department of Children and the National Review Panel.
She said the panel's role is to provide an "objective assessment" of whether the intervention was proportionate, accurate and involved good decision-making.
Ms Duggan said Tusla would "absolutely support" the panel's report "being made public".
Social workers body calls for statutory review
Meanwhile, the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) has called for a statutory review of the case of a boy who is missing and presumed dead.
The IASW said that a statutory review is necessary to ensure that every aspect of the circumstances of the case are understood.
In a statement, the association said it is "vital" that "lessons are learned" so that no child is left without the protection and care they deserve.
A "pertinent question" remained in the case regarding family reunification and what safety protections were put in place for the child, the IASW said.
It said a safety network does not exclusively need to be social workers.
Caroline Strong, Chief Operations Officer with IASW, said it is known that the child was engaged with Tusla, but it is also known that the Department of Social Protection is who "raised the concern in the first instance".
She told RTÉ's Drivetime programme: "What we're looking for really, is for all of the information that is out there in relation to this child to be gathered together and for us to look at how could these challenges be overcome in the future.
"It beggars belief that we can go from 2020 to 2025 and this child wasn't on any state agency's radar," she said.
The association also called for an examination of the thresholds of harm that are being set by Tusla for the intake and monitoring of children referred to the child and family agency.
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Questions asked of Tusla as Donabate search continues
A definate line of inquiry
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry in this case from information they have received.
He told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne that people should "await the outcome of what is a very sensitive and difficult investigation" before making conclusions in relation to Tusla.
"We don't have all the information in relation to the child who is missing in Donabate.
"If the child died and has been buried secretly - that is a very serious issue - but primary responsibility for that rests with the individuals who did it.
"Let's wait until the (garda) investigation proceeds a bit further before we start jumping to conclusions."
Meanwhile, gardaí appealed to the media to provide investigating gardaí "space and time" to carry out the investigation and search operation in the case of the boy "sympathetically for everybody involved".
In a statement, they said they were continuing to engage with people connected with the probe.
Gardaí said they were aware that a small number of individuals in the media "are attempting to make unsolicited and unwanted direct contact" with those connected with the investigation.
However, they added that the attempted contacts "are having a direct negative impact on this investigation".
Former chief executive of Tusla and current HSE Chief Bernard Gloster, has said that child protection and child welfare is an exceptionally complex area.
Mr Gloster said gardaí must be allowed do their work and the National Review Panel, set up over 15 years ago, before the establishment of Tusla, must also be allowed do its work and explain what happened.
Mr Gloster said there are no simple answers or solutions in relation to child protection and welfare and the outcome of the reviews must be awaited.
He said that when a child goes missing and is presumed dead it is a dreadful tragedy and there are people grieving.
Additional reporting Fergal Bowers
