Vol. 1041 No. 3
55. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on the commitment by the Minister of State to develop a national strategy to improve communicating a coherent message around integration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32481/23]
I ask the Minister for State for an update on the commitment that was made to develop a communications strategy so that a coherent message can be delivered to communities in relation to new communities moving into the area. A commitment was made that a coherent communications strategy would be developed.
Since the beginning of 2022, Ireland and many other European countries have been experiencing a significant increase of new arrivals seeking international protection. As of the 25 June, more than 21,570 people are being accommodated in the International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, system as a whole, compared to 12,000 people at this time last year. Combined with that is the arrival of more than 76,000 displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest displacement of people in Europe system since the Second World War. More than 65,000 of those people are in State-provided accommodation.
I recognise that there have been some issues with communications in communities where accommodation centres are being established. The Government is working towards addressing those issues by improving advanced communications, where appropriate, for elected representatives, local authorities and local communities. To date, the Department has held 22 online meetings and 17 in-person meetings with local representatives and community groups. Since beginning of 2022, more than 155 emergency accommodation centres have been brought into use by IPAS to provide shelter to seeking international protection. Due to the scale of the present crisis, contracted emergency accommodation for those seeking refuge must be occupied on a faster timeline than would otherwise be the case. While efforts are made to notify public representatives and State agencies in advance of utilising a building for the accommodation of people seeking international protection, the emergency nature of the response means that advanced communications are not always as early as my Department would like. Where possible, before the opening of any facility, the Department engages with local elected representatives to provide information as soon as possible following the agreement of terms with contractors. These constraints limit the time window for advanced consultation.
The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, officials and I also make significant efforts to engage with community organisations when new centres are opening, to provide information and to dispel any misinformation being circulated. As the Deputy is aware, the Department of the Taoiseach is currently developing a communications strategy and campaign aimed at developing a national model that will help support communication with communities where accommodation centres are opening. I can tell the Deputy a bit more about that shortly.
As the Minister of State is aware, there has been significant turmoil in communities in recent times, particularly here in the capital. Much of that has been exploited by extreme right-wing groups. Unfortunately, some communities have been caught up in the middle of that. Far right groups have exploited a vacuum in terms of a lack of coherent coming from Government. These groups have seized upon vulnerabilities within communities, whether it is a lack of resources or a lack of amenities. That is why it is critical that there is a coherent communications strategy. We have heard time and again the response that the Minister of State gave. I am not blaming him. We have been told that this communications strategy is being developed and spearheaded by the Department of the Taoiseach. I would have thought that by this stage we would have had something to look at and to counter some of the spin and the narrative that is being put out and how it is going to be tackled. The Minister of State might give us an update as to when we will see that strategy.
I will be meeting with officials from the Department of the Taoiseach in the next week to firm up and finalise the plan. The message that will be communicated will be similar to what we consistently communicate in terms of outlining the wider context of what has happened, underlining our international responsibilities and the situations people face, and recognising what communities have done. It is important we recognise that the dominant story has been one of welcome. I held an event in Croke Park two weeks ago, where community organisations from every county in the country came together to share their learning and to build a national movement of welcome. That has been the broader and wider story. That is one key way of keeping those other messages out. We must support communities that want to welcome people and build our capacity to do that. Part of that is giving them information in advance when we are able to do that.
I acknowledge that there is some communication in relation to new centres being opened. That is to be welcomed. I agree that fantastic work is going on in communities where there are welcoming groups that are visiting people and bringing goods and whatever is needed for refugees and internationally displaced persons. That has to be welcomed, but there needs to be a collective approach to tackling that false narrative that some groups are looking to spin. We, in the Opposition, want to be part of that. The communications strategy is going to be key to that. I know the Department of the Taoiseach is developing the strategy, but I ask for a commitment from the Minister of State that when it is put in place, there will be a cross-party briefing for the Opposition to be part of it, because we need to be included in that. I also ask for a commitment in terms of communications with local authorities. They need to be a key component of this. I refer not just to the elected representatives, but also the officials within the local authorities.
I will certainly bring that request to the meeting next week. I think it is a reasonable one. I want to point to a few statistics that are relevant. In the last three months, we have opened 33 new international protection accommodation centres and 88 beneficiaries of temporary protection centres. That is a total of 111 centres that have been opened in the last three months. The response has, by large, been very good across communities. I thank An Garda Síochána for providing us with updated statistics on protests over about six months, which peaked in January. That number halved in the month of June when 32 protests were recorded in the greater Dublin area. That figure was well into the 70s in January. We are not getting complacent. The risk is always there, but I think the work is improving. The community recognition fund introduced by the Department of Rural and Community Development has also, in a very tangible way, acknowledged the contributions and efforts communities across the country have made by improving local infrastructure and community facilities.
56. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the steps being taken to ensure that children are not exploited when under the residential care of Tusla; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31581/23]
57. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide an update on child protection and welfare practices in publicly funded and run residential care facilities; if his Department monitor cases of suspected abuse; if provision to address issues highlighted by Tusla will be included in budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32483/23]
My question relates to the recent report that has been in the media. Can the Minister provide an update on child protection and welfare practices in publicly funded and publicly run residential care facilities? Is there any sort of oversight or monitoring from the Department with regard to suspected abuse? Will there be provision to address issues highlighted by Tusla included in this budget? The Minister might give us some more information. I am sure he is aware of the report to which I refer.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 57 together.
I thank the Deputy for raising the question. Children in the care of the State are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and my Department are committed to promoting safe and high-quality practice in all areas of alternative care.
Tusla has a statutory obligation to notify An Garda Síochána of all incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation, including those relating to children in the care of the State. An Garda Síochána leads the investigation into these notifications. Consequently, Tusla liaises closely with the Garda and also has an assigned principal social worker based with the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, GNPSB. On a more local level, each Tusla area implements its own local area management meetings with local Garda divisional child protection units to review progress on Garda notifications.
The issues raised in the recently published University College Dublin, UCD, scoping report with regard to the potential sexual exploitation of children are concerning. My Department and Tusla continue to progress a number of key developments in response to this area. First, in 2021, Tusla implemented its child exploitation procedure in partnership with An Garda Síochána. This provides Tusla staff and carers with information on how to recognise indicators of child sexual exploitation, how to make appropriate referrals and how to respond to cases where children may be at risk of sexual exploitation. All staff in these residential centres have undergone Children First training, which provides guidance for the protection and welfare of children. This training assists staff to assess the children in their care and to act in appropriately if matters of concern arise. The joint working protocol between Tusla and An Garda Síochána forms a critical part of the response to child abuse and neglect, and particularly with regard to child sexual exploitation. There are regular meetings by Tusla local area and also Tusla’s national children’s residential service with An Garda Síochána in respect of child sexual exploitation referrals.
Second, Tusla has established an anti-trafficking working group in preparation for the Department of Justice's national action plan for human trafficking, which includes the area of child sexual exploitation. Third, my Department also recently established jointly with Tusla a working group looking at institutional and organisational abuse. This work is ongoing, including reviewing criteria for the definition of such abuse and reviewing further supports and guidance for staff around any potential indicators of child sexual exploitation of children in State care.
Importantly, Tusla has had a principal social worker seconded to the Garda National Protective Service Bureau. Their role is to provide social work specialist support to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau, including child protection related knowledge and expertise. The role includes supporting the bureau around notifications received relating to children in care and also in the community, including around issues of notifications of child sexual exploitation.
My Department is also leading an interdepartmental group on the national implementation of Barnahus, which is a multi-agency approach to the provision of intervention and services to children subject to child sexual abuse. A pilot has been in operation in Barnahus West in County Galway for the past number of years, which the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I visited, with additional centres planned to be established in the east and south of the country.
Finally, where there may be child welfare concerns, the onus falls on all of us to report concerns that a child may have been, is being or is at risk of being abused or neglected. Tusla has developed a comprehensive referral system through which organisations, the public and mandated people can share their concerns for a child potentially at risk of neglect or abuse. My Department will work closely with Tusla in terms of responding to the issues raised in the UCD scoping review. The Deputy has written to me directly on this issue in terms of her role as Chair of the Committee on Children, Disability, Equality and Integration. We will, of course, respond to update her on the various elements in that regard.
I thank the Minister. I welcome some of those points he made, particularly around some of the new working groups. I assume they were established recently enough. Maybe they were established even after this report was published. Obviously, however, it is very concerning and worrying for us.
Some particularly worrying things that stuck out to me were that in some instances, front-line workers were uncertain about reporting their suspicions and felt uncomfortable discussing sexual exploitation or did not know what to do. It is nearly impossible to believe that was the case, but we have to absolutely ensure that whatever safeguards, training and expertise are needed in this area are put in place. One of the things that was recommended was to look at specialist knowledge that exists in England following inquiries into the sexual exploitation of children in Rochdale. One of the recommendations in the report was that we would look at that here and see whether some of that can be mirrored. However, I would like to know-----
I thank the Deputy.
Am I over time?
Yes. I call Deputy Naughten
During the noughties, 443 children went missing from State care, none of whom was ever found. That was approximately 44 children per year who disappeared without trace, and at least some of these unaccompanied minors ended up in the prostitution industry. This dropped to fewer than four per year after the State policy changed from placing unaccompanied migrant children in foster care rather than residential facilities.
From reading the Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Ireland research paper, it seems to me that Tusla has learned absolutely nothing from past failures. Children in State-run residential facilities are again being sexually exploited and the staff are not even being provided with the basic tools to deal with this. This is 14 years after authorities accepted that there was a problem with migrant children in the exact same situation that our own children are today.
I thank the Deputy and call the Minister to respond, please.
I thank the Deputies. I am actually dealing with a question later in terms of children who go missing from care. Obviously, any child missing from care for any period is a real concern, but it is really important to say that the vast majority are returned to care safely. However, that is not to say that even one child continuously missing from care is not a matter of real concern.
Deputy Funchion raised the issue of incidents that have taken place in the United Kingdom and how we could respond. That is why it is important that we have that interdepartmental group to look at institutional and organisational abuse. That is something we put in place that briefly predates this report by maybe four or five months. It is up and running and taking place and it will be considering the issues raised in this report.
Absolutely, some of the quotations in this report are really concerning. As soon as it was published, I rang the interim chief executive of Tusla, Ms Kate Duggan. We discussed the issue and the steps that are taking place. I will be working very closely with Tusla in order that I and the House can be assured that key steps are being taken.
I have already outlined five key areas in which steps have been taken in the last 18 months to two years that are explicitly directed towards the protection of children in care and ensuring that Tusla is directly linked in with An Garda Síochána when a child does go missing. That is why having a seconded social worker in the Garda National Protective Services Bureau is important. Deputies should remember that the protective services bureau is a relatively new innovation from An Garda Síochána, specifically designed to investigate cases like this. There is much better inter-agency co-operation between Tusla and An Garda Síochána and they have the capacity to respond to incidents like those raised by the Deputies.
I would like to know more about the Barnahus project about which the Minister spoke because I want to be solution-focused here. The report is damning and very upsetting. We want to see how we can prevent this going forward. I am not sure if it is possible for us to get some more information, obviously, not in this answer but even outside of that as a committee. We can maybe do a visit, if that is appropriate. It would be good to see whether that is actually working and whether we can learn from that experience. I know it does not fall into the Minister's area but protected services units need many more resources, and I always try to mention that whenever I can.
The other issue I want to raise is the principal social worker. I welcome that, but is it one person? Is that one principal social worker? He or she must be totally overwhelmed trying to deal with all the cases or direct all the information. Again, that comes back to a resource issue. I would like to see if we could get more information on the pilot programme to see whether it is working. This is an area that particularly affects young girls and women, and we have already failed women so much in this country.
I really accept the Minister's bona fides with regard to this, but I am really frustrated that we are here 14 years later and have not progressed.
I have a reply from 18 November 2009 in which the Minister's predecessor, former Minister of State Barry Andrews, assured the House that a protocol was being put in place with the Garda and the HSE at that stage, 14 years ago. It is clear that when foster carers are responsible for the care of some of our most vulnerable children, they are less likely to be exploited. I have given an example of that from 14 years ago. There is clear evidence that providing those children at the time with a foster home rather than a hostel facility was a far better support for them.
In recent years, we have seen a fall-off in the number of foster parents because the foster allowance has not increased since 2009. Can the Minister give the House an assurance that he will encourage and support children to be put into foster care and acknowledge the role that foster parents have in respect of this matter by increasing the foster care allowance for the first time in 14 years?
I thank the Deputy. I am pleased to be able to say there has been an increase in the level of foster carers. It has gone up by 1%, from 89% to 90%, so it is going in the right direction. That is really important. When comparing Ireland with other countries, the number of children who are in care, including foster care, is extremely high. We want to continue to support foster carers. In my budget Estimates campaign, I will certainly work to secure an increase in the foster care allowance. When I started off in this role, I specifically designed a foster care programme for unaccompanied minors. It is the Fáilte Foster care programme. It is specifically designed and has worked really well.
My colleague, Deputy Costello, makes that point about wanting to see Tusla a social worker seconded to all the local protective services bureaux. That is certainly something that would work well. It is a single social worker in the protective services. It is the national element. There is a co-ordination role to make sure local gardaí know who they need to get in touch with. Barnahus is working really well. Maybe Deputy Funchion will have the opportunity to visit at some point and we can provide more information. It is a one-stop location where a child or young person who has been the victim of a sexual crime receives the various tests, evidence is taken and statements are given. No one has to go to the station or the hospital. It all takes place in the one location, which is specifically designed to minimise, as much as possible, the trauma of such a situation for a child.
58. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if he will comment further on a recent parliamentary question I tabled on the number of children in care who are awaiting the allocation of a qualified social worker; the measures that he proposes to tackle the shortfall in the number of social workers within Tusla; the measures he proposes to address the deficit in available data in regard to same; if his Department are engaged in workforce planning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32484/23]
This question follows on from a written parliamentary question I tabled on the number of children in care who are awaiting the allocation of a qualified social worker and what measures, particularly as we come into budget season, the Department is proposing to tackle the shortfall in social workers in Tusla. What measures are there to address the deficit in available data? That is one of the issues. I will go into it further in my supplementary question.
I thank the Deputy. At the end of April 2023, 75% of cases, some 17,083, had an allocated social worker and 25%, some 5,785, were awaiting allocation of a social worker. My Department has established a joint working group with Tusla to examine issues around social work supply and review initiatives around it. This group includes senior officials from both my Department and Tusla, including the chief social workers from Tusla and my Department, senior HR and other key members including the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, CORU. The working group is examining a range of initiatives for the recruitment of social workers. My Department and Tusla are involved in the social work employers group, which also includes staff from the Probation Service and the HSE, which looks at how to encourage more students to become involved in social work study and the profession. This group has also engaged with the third level colleges offering courses in these areas and is looking at initiatives to further promote the social work profession among potential students to pursue this course of study. This approach has included supporting a number of additional courses in social work study in third level colleges, which have come on board, and ongoing liaison with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, supporting colleges in consideration of different routes into social work including a potential apprenticeship route.
In addition, Tusla has sponsored a number of internal staff to train as social workers and social care workers and is also exploring an initiative to provide a small bursary to support additional places in existing courses in the Dublin area where, as we know, Tusla has particular recruitment problems. Tusla's social work graduate campaign for 2023 attracted 80% of available graduates. Currently, 123 graduates have accepted permanent positions with Tusla, with a further 40 students currently in receipt of permanent employment opportunities with the agency. In addition, Tusla commenced an international social worker campaign to attract suitably qualified staff from other jurisdictions and has established a return to practice initiative to promote and support qualified social workers to return to the workforce.
I thank the Minister. What prompted me to ask this question is that, in the reply we got back, remembering that 870 children do not have a social worker, the Department was not able to give us a breakdown of the time that children were waiting. Someone could have gone onto the list two or three days before the question was asked, but it could have been months or a year. It would be useful to everybody if we could get that breakdown of data. I was going to ask about the interaction with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science about college places because we know that we need to train many more. I welcome things like the apprenticeship group, but do we have timeframes for when that might become a reality? Is that likely to happen? Particularly in the area of social work, an apprenticeship route could be a really good model. I also wanted to ask about overseas, international workers. The issue of visas came up recently at a different meeting about the HSE. Nurses and so on were waiting for six to eight months for visas. It is just not doable. I will expand further in the next supplementary question.
I thank the Deputy. I take on board her point about the data. I will raise it with Tusla the next time I meet with it. I meet Tusla quarterly. I assure the Deputy that workforce planning and retention are central in all my engagements with the board. These are a source of real concern for the board too. It is important to say that the number of allocated cases has come down significantly in recent years because of the applied focus of Tusla on it, but it is still too high. That is why we are taking the range of measures to which I refer in order to increase the number of college places for social workers. We need to significantly increase the number of college places for social and healthcare professionals generally. That is a source of worry for me and for the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. We have engaged extensively with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and his Department. We will see some increases in places in the CAO in 2023. In successive years, we need to see and we will see the same focus on increasing numbers here as we see with doctors and nurses.
In the context of the previous question, if a social worker is allocated and if there is consistency in an individual's case, that person is less likely to fall into the trap of potentially being exploited. I know we all agree with that statement but we really need to work towards that. I welcome any sort of imaginative initiatives that we can do, particularly the apprenticeship route. Is that just being looked at or is that possibly something that will happen? Is there any timeframe? The Irish Association of Social Workers, IASW, report on staffing and retention contains a range of really good proposals. The Minister will be aware of that report. It is possible that the committee of which I am Chair sent it to him. It would be good to look at that report and some of the suggestions it contains, because the members of the IASW obviously work in that environment every day and know a huge amount about it. I want to make the point again about having consistency in cases for children who are in care is a much better outcome for everybody involved.
I completely agree with the Deputy's point about consistency. One of the things that has arisen during my time in this office is that a significant number of social workers and social care workers are care-experienced themselves. Knowing the benefit they got from it, they want to give something back. Not everyone is entirely suited to a purely academic route. Looking at developing that idea of an apprenticeship model is something that Tusla in particular is very conscious of. It sees this group of people as a potential source for recruitment.
I will revert to the Deputy with more detail. It is something Tusla sees as a serious offer, which is why it has been designing some of its bursaries to take away some of the cost pressures on people looking to retrain.
