Vol. 1050 No. 5
77. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what engagement he has had with Tulsa as it struggles to respond to increased demand for its services, given that this increased demand, together with the complex needs of the children and young people presenting, have swamped the agency (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9495/24]
My question is particularly relevant this week given some of the things we have, unfortunately, seen in the news. What engagement has the Minister and his Department had with Tusla on its struggles to respond to increased demand for its services, given that this increased demand, together with the complex needs of the children and young people presenting, have swamped the agency? I ask him to make a statement on this matter, particularly the special emergency arrangements.
The care and welfare of children in care is a priority for the Government. I and my Department were very much aware of the issues the Deputy has raised and these continue to be the subject of focused and continuous engagement between my Department and Tusla at every level.
As we know, Tusla is facing significant and ongoing challenges in sourcing appropriate placements for children in the care of the State. This is due to a number of factors, including difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, difficulties in maintaining the number of foster carers, the complexity of the presentation of some children presenting to Tusla, and the unprecedented number of separated children seeking international protection who require Tusla services. Tusla has also advised that referrals to the agency increased by 10% between 2022 and 2023, and they now stand at roughly 91,500 per year.
The challenges listed by the Deputy have also been the subject of commentary from a number of key stakeholders, specifically the Ombudsman for Children, the special rapporteur on child protection and the courts. Tusla has responded. In the first instance, it published strategic plans for foster care, residential care and aftercare. These include a range of actions the agency plans to undertake in order to increase capacity in alternative care and ensure that these services continue to meet the needs of children and their families. The strategic plan for residential care seeks to reduce reliance on private provision of residential care placements by creating a total of 110 new residential care placements by the end of 2025.
I share the Deputy's concern in relation to Tusla's current reliance on special emergency arrangements, SEAs. Tusla, supported by my Department, is working to reduce reliance on SEAs. In the interim, specific measures are being taken to promote and support the quality and safety of these placements.
My Department is supporting the strategic plan for residential care and other measures to allow Tusla to maintain and expand its services by securing additional funding in budget 2024. Budget 2024 represented the largest single annual increase in core funding since Tusla's establishment and Tusla, as we know, now has an annual budget of over €1 billion.
None of us wants to see this situation. Yesterday, we saw another piece in The Irish Times. This is not the first time that there have been stories like this in the news. Last year, the retired Dublin District Court, Dermot Simms, spoke out on this. At that time, there were 130 children. If the plan is to deliver 110 places by the end of 2025, we are already way behind the curve. We need to start moving away from the private sector because the idea of having profit mixed with vulnerable children will not work.
The two areas we need to focus on are how we can support foster carers and what we can do to increase the number of people who are willing to become foster carers. In fairness, the sector has been vocal on solutions.
The other issue is the recruitment and retention of social workers. As I about to run out of time, I will come back to that in a moment.
The Deputy is absolutely right about the importance of moving away from private sector reliance, which is significant. I made the investment in Tusla this year in order that it can grow its own stock of residential placements. We are also looking at supporting the community and voluntary sector. I met its representatives in January and discussed what the sector can do to provide additional residential care places.
I agree with the Deputy on foster care. That is why we have taken significant steps this year to support foster care. By the end of this year, the foster care allowance will have increased by €75 per child. It increased by 25% on 1 January and the remainder of the increase will apply from 1 November. This will mean that this year, foster carers will receive additional support of €1,700 per year and by the end of 2025, that figure will have increased to an additional €3,900 per year. That is a necessary and recognition of the hugely important role foster carers play in terms of children in care.
Those measures were welcome. Is there a forum or an opportunity for representatives from the social worker sector, Tusla and foster carers to sit down with the Minister? Perhaps one is already in place. Tusla, in fairness, says that as well. Everybody says we cannot have this and we need to end special emergency places, yet we end up having to resort to them. I understand that in a crisis a place has to be provided for a child but, as I know from people I deal with, these places are the worst situation for children. They mainly involve older teenagers who have come from a difficult and traumatic situation and are suddenly placed in a hostel, bed and breakfast accommodation or a hotel. It is not what we want to see.
I welcome some of the measures that have been taken but there needs to be a greater sense of urgency in relation to it, particularly greater imagination around the recruitment and retention of social workers. What is Tusla doing to promote that? Is it talking to transition year students? What is it doing? Are Tusla who could grade up, as it were, doing so? Everything is moving very slowly and we need more urgency.
The Deputy asked quite a few questions. In terms of engagement with the sector, I have met representatives of the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, the representative body for foster carers, and also of Movement for Change, which is a new representative body, several times and discussed the increase in funding. I met both of those organisation after the budget as well.
In terms of bringing the wider sector together and facing the challenge of overreliance on SEAs, the Children's Rights Alliance, in the latter part of last year, convened a group, including Tusla. The Ombudsman for Children fed into that, as did many of the direct providers.
The group is drawing up a report right now on where the priorities are in regard to residential care and setting out key recommendations. I expect to see that report in the next number of weeks. It will be an important document and I look forward to working with the Deputy on it.
A lot of work is going into increasing the number of social workers. An apprenticeship programme will be kicking in from September. For the first time, we will be training social workers via an apprenticeship model, which is a new and important innovation. A significant number of Tusla social care workers are being sponsored to undertake social work degrees. This is in line with what the Deputy suggested about training up people within the organisation.
78. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, UNCRPD, will be ratified within the term of the Government; if so, when it will be ratified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9742/24]
My question is about the optional protocol to the UNCRPD. Many people who have been following this issue, not only in this House but outside it, have been frustrated by its non-ratification. I would like to hear the Minister's thoughts on whether it will be ratified within the term of this Dáil.
Ireland fully ratified the UNCRPD in 2018 and the Government remains committed to continuously advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Ratification of the optional protocol is a commitment in the programme for Government. The timeline for ratifying it was anticipated to follow the conclusion of Ireland's first review period before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland submitted its first state report in November 2021 and we await a review date from the UN committee.
The State must exercise due diligence in agreeing any supranational review. Ireland takes its international obligations seriously and seeks to act in good faith on the international stage. We do not enter into binding international treaties until we are confident the obligations set out within can be completed. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the Taoiseach and I have all stated that we are open to earlier ratification of the optional protocol subject to the State being in a position to meet the obligations that arise.
In order to map out the requirements for ratification, my Department has commenced the process of obtaining external legal advice as part of an ongoing scoping exercise. This advice seeks to identify areas where our legislation needs to change and to ascertain whether we have adequate domestic remedies for the rights in the UNCRPD. My Department expects to receive the results of this scoping exercise in the next number of weeks. Once we have received and considered them, the Minister will bring proposals to the Cabinet setting out the pathway to ratification. To assist this process, an interdepartmental group will be established to allow the Department to work on the relevant changes.
My message today is that we are really moving at pace on this issue. Once the results of the scoping exercise go to the Cabinet, the roundtable discussions will take place. It is really time for knocking heads together at this stage.
I agree. The process of ratifying the UNCRPD was very protracted. It was done six years ago, with Ireland being one of the last countries to ratify. It does not really make sense that we did not ratify the protocol at the same time. Other countries in Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand ratified the protocol soon after they ratified the UNCRPD. It does not make sense that we did not do the same. It would make sense to ratify the protocol because it would make the convention much stronger and make way for legislation enabling people to take a case not only against the State but also to the UN. It is important that it be ratified as soon as possible.
I could not agree more. However, it is also important that we have domestic legislation which ensures the right process is in place. We have made commitments in that regard. We take our international agreements very seriously. That is why, under the stewardship of the Minister, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 was introduced. Under that legislation, we completely outlawed the archaic wardships system. In August 2023, we started the scoping exercise to which I referred, once the remit of certain issues was moved from another Department to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Again, this was done under the stewardship of the Minister. We are taking the ratification of the optional protocol very seriously. We are working at pace to achieve it. As I said, we are just awaiting the outcomes of the scoping exercise.
I understand it is a process. It is very important that the protocol is ratified. If not, the process will drag out further. I do not doubt the bona fides of the Minister of State on this matter. A lot of people have been observing the non-commitment of the State to ratifying the protocol. It is really important that we ratify it because it will enhance other things, particularly around assisted decision-making. That legislation is one of the best Acts put forward by the Dáil. There is a referendum on care taking place next week. We are in the right space to look to the situation of people with disabilities. Ratifying the protocol is really important because, without it, the impact of the UNCRPD is lessened. In order to enhance it, the protocol must be ratified as soon as possible. I do not doubt the bona fides of the Minister of State. I hope the protocol can be ratified in this Dáil term.
The Minister of State has allowed me to come in on this. I reiterate our desire to get the optional protocol signed before the end of the Government's term. We recognise there are challenges. There is existing domestic legislation that is incompatible with the protocol and must be changed, just as we got the legislation on assisted decision-making changed. We have scoped out the matter and we have a report showing where the issues are. I hope to bring that report to the Cabinet very soon. We will then set up an interdepartmental group to bring in the input of other Departments. A key element is that a lot of the changes will have to be made in other Departments, including the Departments of Health and Social Protection. It is about bringing those parts together to see how we can implement the commitment we gave. Often, a commitment is made by the Government but everyone is saying it is a matter for this or that Department. We are bringing everybody together to map how we get there. This is an important step forward and a way to achieve the goal of ratifying the convention within the life span of the Government.
79. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide details of what audits are being carried out in areas where his Department has taken the decision to place refugees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9685/24]
Due to Government failure to ensure proper amenities and services are put in place, many communities right across the State are under huge pressure. What audits are carried out of community services and amenities by the Minister, his Department or other Departments before the placement of refugees or asylum seekers in a particular area?
Between those fleeing Ukraine and international protection applicants, my Department is now providing accommodation for more than 100,000 people. As I have said before, this is the largest humanitarian response the State has ever undertaken. My Department is utilising a wide range of accommodation options to provide shelter for a record number of international protection applicants. More than 200 accommodation locations across 26 counties have been utilised since January 2022. The accommodation of international protection applicants is a demand-led process. Applicants arriving in the country have to be accommodated.
Provision of accommodation, health, education, income and other supports, as appropriate, is made for both those arriving from Ukraine and international protection applicants. This is an ongoing focus of our work and an all-of-government approach is taken to it. That whole-of-government approach involves various Departments and agencies. Within my Department, we have created a community engagement team to engage directly with Oireachtas Members, county councillors and communities to provide information about new accommodation being opened and answer queries.
In regard to procuring accommodation for Ukrainians, who are beneficiaries of temporary protection, my Department meets frequently with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and Fáilte Ireland, to gain an understanding of where the pressures are on accommodation and to ensure we can be as effective as possible in terms of where we are procuring additional accommodation.
The Government is very much focused on how to continue to provide sustained support for those fleeing the war in Ukraine. We have made significant changes to our offerings and are in the process of implementing those changes. We are moving to a system of State-provided accommodation for a 90-day period, during which time the income supports will be less than they currently are. On the international protection side, I will be bringing forward a revised accommodation strategy. This will primarily allow for better standards of accommodation, better value for money and, importantly, better planning in terms of where we locate new international protection accommodation.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Unfortunately, he failed to answer the specific question. He stated that his Department met Fáilte Ireland regularly, but he did not address the serious issues facing communities across the State. For example, more than 100 Ukrainians have been placed in Carnew in my constituency of Wicklow, but there is only a part-time GP service with waiting times of two to three weeks. That waiting list has grown even longer. There is a crisis in school places and a shortage of teachers and classrooms. This situation is replicated in Donegal and Roscommon.
What audits have been carried out to assess where the deficiencies are? When those deficiencies are identified and before the placement of international protection applicants or Ukrainians in communities, what actions are being taken to rectify them or put in place the services that are needed, not just to meet increased demand in communities, but to ensure that locals, who were under considerable pressure before additional people arrived in their communities, can be addressed also?
When new accommodation is opened for Ukrainians or international protection applicants, the community engagement team, through my Department, engages with local representatives and statutory services. The Deputy mentioned education. When the war in Ukraine broke out, the Department of Education created regional education and language teams, REALT, throughout all of the education and training boards. These teams allow for the identification of where there are places in primary and secondary schools and where there are pressures. This approach allows for better co-ordination for Ukrainians initially and, subsequently, for international protection applicants. It has been effective in ensuring that underutilised school places are utilised by Ukrainians or international protection applicants and, where there are pressures on schools, the Department of Education is engaged with on bringing forward new accommodation solutions in those schools. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has received significantly increased capital funding to make that happen.
The approach taken by the Department and the Government has failed utterly and seems to be led by speculators making millions of euro from the process. It does not take into consideration the needs of communities on which additional pressures have been placed. Many Ministers have given false promises in this Chamber. For example, additional services were promised when Syrian refugees first arrived in Roscommon many years ago, but those services have still not been delivered in Ballaghaderreen and other communities in Roscommon where there are significant pressures on GP services and school places. The false promises have led to large levels of resentment. People want to do the right thing and support people coming to this State seeking protection, but when the State fails by putting more pressure on limited services within their communities, it causes resentment. That failure lies at the Government’s door.
My colleagues across the Government and I are acutely conscious of the pressures caused by our response to the war, but I would put it to the Deputy that it is at times of war, conflict and other pressures that countries have to dig deep. Irish people across our society have done that.
Some more than others.
Communities have rallied to support Ukrainians and international protection applicants. Having met Ukrainians, international protection applicants and the communities that support them, I am conscious of how aware those communities are of the importance of their role and of how unique the challenge we are facing is. It is the largest movement of people across the European Continent since the Second World War. It has caused challenges and pressures, but we will manage those and make changes to the system to accommodate and address the changed context. When I meet communities around the country, they still feel that we are doing the right thing and that we need to step up and support people who are vulnerable.
80. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of companies contracted by Tusla to provide special emergency accommodation for children in care; and the amount paid to each company in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [8789/24]
The Minister’s Department has admitted to me through replies to parliamentary questions that it is placing children in special emergency accommodation that is unregulated, staffed by third party providers and rented. How much is the Department paying these companies?
The Deputy is seeking information about companies that have been contracted by Tusla to provide emergency accommodation to children in care in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. I understand that the information up to the first half of 2023 was released to the Deputy in response to Question No. 1362 of 11 September. The Deputy will be aware from that response that a total of 27 companies were contracted by Tusla between 2013 and the end of June 2023 in order to provide care for children in special emergency arrangements. Unfortunately, due to industrial action, Tusla has not been able to provide the full details requested by the Deputy about the period from July 2023 to date. However, Tusla has confirmed that this information is being compiled and will get it to the Deputy as soon as it is available.
In the interim, Tusla has completed an exercise to establish payments made over 2023 to the ten largest providers of special emergency arrangements. I note that these payments ranged from €3.5 million to more than €13 million over the year. I am informed that these figures may include payments for a range of other services to Tusla outside of SEAs, including agency staff for residential care centres or staff for other wraparound services.
Tusla is facing ongoing challenges in sourcing appropriate placements for children in the care of the State. This is due to a number of factors: difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff; the complexity of the presentations; and the number of children seeking international protection. I share the Deputy's concerns about the overreliance on SEAs. With the support of my Department, Tusla is working to reduce that overreliance. It has its residential care plan in place, which seeks to put 110 new beds into Tusla's system - so, not private beds, but Tusla beds - by the end of 2025. We are supporting that. In 2024, Tusla received its largest budget increase ever, given that I know how important it is to support the agency in caring for these vulnerable children.
I understand that €90 million has been spent by the Department so far on special emergency arrangements.
Last month alone, 22 children went missing from State care. Previously, a 14-year-old girl who had been abducted by a criminal gang within minutes of being placed with Tusla was found one year later locked in a brothel. I try to raise these matters with the Minister, but he does not listen. A retired judge, Dermot Simms, tried to raise these matters with the Minister, but the Minister deleted his files, citing GDPR. A whistleblower tried to make a protected disclosure about unvetted care workers. Tusla tried to oppose that, but the commissioner has now ruled that Tusla must accept it. Last week on RTÉ radio, Tusla’s CEO stated that staff in SEAs were absolutely vetted. We now know from an article in The Irish Times yesterday that one company was providing falsified vetting documents to Tusla and that an internal Tusla report in July found that staff did not have up-to-date Garda clearances. The name of that company is Ideal Care Services. I understand that there is a Garda investigation into the matter. Has the Minister ever met the owner of that company?
I do not believe I have, but I can clarify that point for the Deputy and revert to him.
The Deputy stated that I did not listen or engage. When he raised a question about this matter during my previous oral questions, I was prepared for it because of its importance, but the Deputy was not present. It is important that I put that point on the record.
As to what we are doing about this issue, I had extensive engagement with Tusla, An Garda Síochána, the special rapporteur on child protection and the Ombudsman for Children over last summer. That engagement was focused on the use of special emergency arrangements and, in particular, the situation of children in care and what the Garda was doing when children went missing from care. The Garda is reviewing Operation Cosnaím with a focus on how it traces people who go missing from care and will make proposals soon.
I am acutely aware of the pressures that the overreliance on SEAs creates. We are looking to give Tusla resources so that it does not have to rely on them so much, but while we are relying on them, we will try to put in place protective measures for the children in them.
I have in my hand a document showing that the owner of the company being investigated for the alleged falsifying of vetting documents, which received millions of euro from the State for the unregulated care of vulnerable children, was on the same committee as the Minister back when the Minister was a councillor in his constituency. The Minister and Mr. Paul Reid, who went on to become the CEO of the HSE, sat on a joint policing committee with this individual quarter after quarter.
Has the Minister ever spoken to him about the provision of care? Second, why is he underfunding the voluntary and regulated sectors? That is at the heart of this situation. They cannot provide the necessary places because they are underfunded. We are pumping astronomical money into dodgy profit-motivated companies with poorer, unregulated services at a huge economic cost. Will the Minister meet the voluntary and regulated sectors to discuss these concerns?
Finally, given the number of times the Minister has been warned about the dangers of these arrangements and that his Department shredded warning reports from a judge; given that whistleblowers were ignored on this issue and are only being taken seriously now that it has appeared on the front page of a newspaper, is this not a resigning matter for him?
I met the community and voluntary providers of residential care in January and discussed these issues in detail with them in terms of funding. I have set out in detail the additional funding I have been providing to Tusla in order that it can enact its residential care strategy and can put additional beds into the Tusla sector so we can reduce our reliance on special emergency arrangements. I will look at whether I served on the Fingal joint policing committee with this individual. It is a committee of about 40 individuals that meets on a quarterly basis. I will examine that. I certainly have never spoken to him on the issue of care.
I am very happy with, and had the Deputy been here a couple of weeks ago when we had the question about this I would have set out to him directly, the various steps I have taken over the last year around focusing on the safety of children in care.
It is a political charge -----
The regulated sector says the Minister is not meeting them.
It is a political charge and the Deputy is very good at that. He is very good at the Facebook moment. No doubt, the video has been clipped already. But ultimately I can set out in real detail the engagements I have had with the Ombudsman for Children, An Garda Síochána and Tusla to ensure the safety of children in care.
Táim ag dul anois go dtí ceist Uimh. 82, in ainm an Teachta Kathleen Funchion.
I believe Deputy Harkin's question is next.
Tá brón orm.
81. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth his plans to progress residential care accommodation in south Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9890/24]
I am asking about progress towards residential care accommodation for young adults with special needs in south Leitrim. The Minister of State has been hands on and while she attended a public meeting with all stakeholders and public representatives about 21 months ago, progress has been slow, especially when it comes to residential accommodation and parents are very concerned. I want to hear what the progress is.
The HSE informs me that planning permission has been submitted to Leitrim County Council for the development of a residential respite service in south Leitrim. It is a five-bed house that, if it works seven over seven, will add a capacity of approximately 1,800 bed nights into the system. That is very welcome and badly needed.
Additionally, HSE disability services are currently working closely with the property management section of HSE estates north west in order to identify additional suitable premises in the south Leitrim area, which can be used as long-term residential accommodation for individuals with disabilities.
The residential needs of people with disabilities in the south Leitrim area are managed through the disability services application management tool. This helps to inform national HSE of current and future residential and housing needs in the area. All south Leitrim service people with disabilities with identified residential service needs, current and future, are on the DSMAT and they and their families were supported by CHO 1 disability services to submit their applications to Leitrim County Council so that their housing needs are included on its housing list.
The CHO 1 disability services community team engages with the housing officer in Leitrim County Council on a quarterly basis in respect of the housing needs of people with disabilities. Where any housing development for people with disabilities is planned by a county council, the HSE will work with the council and an approved housing body to progress the development.
In the interim, an additional residential respite service has been procured via service arrangement and additional overnight respite is being provided in the Tullaghan respite service in Leitrim. I seem to recall from the time, and the Deputy might correct me, that that possibly was not the proper solution for all. Transport was an issue and I had asked the HSE to ensure that transport and accommodation would be facilitated.
HSE disability services, as well as managing its own directly delivered residential services, which includes allocations of vacant places as and when they arise, also engages with a number of organisations through service arrangements to deliver residential placements and will continue to do so as required.
Did the Minister of State just say that there was a planning decision from Leitrim County Council on a residential house? I thought that was on a respite house.
Residential respite.
That planning decision was due on 3 February this year. Parents are now contacting me. This is the last day of February and they are asking what is the hold-up. This is 21 months later and people are really concerned. The decision was due on 3 February. People are asking me to ask the Minister of State what is the hold-up. What is causing this delay?
I will speak more on residential accommodation in my next intervention. Many parents are really concerned about the long term for their children who are now adults with special needs. Thus far, despite the Minister of State stating there have been quarterly meetings - there have been - there is no progress on that.
I do not have the update on 3 February. The Deputy might know about that better than I as to whether planning was granted. One would hope planning permission was granted because it will add 1,800 additional bed nights capacity in the south Leitrim area and that is badly needed. Funding is ring-fenced for that development.
When I met the parents 21 months ago, we did not have a site, design or funding. Neither did we have feasibility work done on it. All that has been done now. I hope the local authority granted planning permission in order that we can now work at pace. To be fair to HSE estates, once it has its planning and all the other ducks in a row, it will be good to go. We have the funding to ensure that it can be operational as quickly as possible. It is a priority for Edel Quinn.
I am pleased to hear that and that the funding is ring-fenced. It is important to note that when the Minister of State attended that meeting, the parents and friends had already fundraised €300,000. That was already in the bank.
I have looked at the minutes of 11 different meetings in October and December 2022 and in May, June, September, November and December 2023. On discussions of residential properties, all it says is that it is advised that investigating residential properties is for follow-up. That is all it says in those minutes. Parents are really losing patience at this point because it is going on too long. Already, one of the parents of these children has died. All parents are concerned about is what will happen when they are not here. That is why they want to hear that real progress is being made.
I completely agree. Real progress is being made and that is why on 14 December both the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and I launched the Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026. It makes a commitment to 900 additional residential places and 500 as part of the decongregation programme during that time.
The local authority has a huge role to play on that. It is something we need to tease out a little further, albeit perhaps not in this forum. If you are opening a new housing estate or there is a refurbishment development taking place, there should always be a portion held for respite and residential. That is why it is so important that the families have all their loved ones on the housing waiting list. The HSE’s job should be to give the additional support required, whether independent or supported independent living.
We need local authorities, the HSE and parents to work more closely to ensure we have access to properties. There is no point putting up a 30-unit estate if we do not have the rights of persons with disabilities enshrined. I also think we will be looking at developing what we have already done with disability officers under Age Action.
I apologise to Deputy Harkin for overlooking her earlier.
The apology is noted.
Once it is only one black mark.
