Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 September 2014
1. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide an update on the financial position of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency; if he will need to bring forward a Supplementary Estimate for the agency this year; the extent to which the budgetary position is impacting on the provision of services by the agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36076/14]
View answerMy question relates to the up-to-date financial position of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Does the Minister consider that he will need to bring forward a Supplementary Estimate for the agency this year? Can he give an update as to the extent to which the budgetary position is impacting on the services provided by the agency?
The financial allocation for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in 2014 which was its first year of operation, was set at €609 million. This is comprised of €602 million in current funding and €7 million in capital funding. The overall level of funding available to the agency, which is significant by any measurement, is designed to ensure that the agency can provide a comprehensive and integrated service to children and families who require support. In budget 2014, an additional sum of €6.7 million was made available to support the agency's reform of the child welfare and protection services. The level of expenditure to date by the agency amounts to €428.2 million.
Notwithstanding the additional resources provided and the prioritisation of these services by the Government, it is acknowledged that delivering the range of service required of the agency within this budget is challenging as a result of demographic and social factors. This has been reflected most recently in a report prepared by the agency entitled "Measuring the Pressure" which shows that during the first three months of the year, Tusla provided a social work service to 19,990 children and that 11,093 referrals of child welfare and protection were made to child protection social work teams. The report also shows that following preliminary inquiry, about half of these referrals were deemed to need an initial social work assessment.
These increases have given rise to strong demand for foster care and private residential care over the period. Operational reforms are ongoing to achieve the most effective utilisation of existing resources. In addition, the agency has been working to bring added controls in the area of legal services and continues to develop its approach to commissioning. My officials continue to review data on activity levels and performance on an ongoing basis as part of the performance management function of the Department. Specifically, my officials closely monitor the cash position of the agency and are working with the agency to determine an evidence-based full year cash requirement. No final determination has yet been reached in this regard. In the event that supplementary funding is required to meet the running costs of the agency in 2014, the matter will be discussed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as part of the ongoing budgetary discussions.
When he left the HSE behind, the Minister had hoped that he might be leaving behind Supplementary Estimates but it is clear that there is a major problem in this agency which has only been in operation for less than 12 months. Gordon Jeyes, who is chief executive of the agency, has spoken about how we need to have a realistic debate about the money provided and a need to spell out what services will be delivered for that money. Those comments were made a week before we learned that more than 9,000 cases of abuse, neglect or welfare concerns for children at risk are waiting to be allocated a social worker.
Does the Deputy have a question for the Minister?
There is a crisis in the provision of front-line services in an agency that is only in its infancy. This simply is not tenable and is not good enough. I want the Minister to tell us what level of additional supplementary budget will be brought forward to this agency this year because Mr. Jeyes has said that the agency will need a further €45 million simply to stand still next year.
The Deputy has raised the issue of the number of children who are waiting for further social work intervention. They have been categorised into different groups of low priority and high priority. There is no question or doubt that the agency is under pressure. However, we are employing more social workers. Over 100 social workers have been recruited and another 90 are in process. I share the Deputy's concern around the needs of children in this area but I would point out that major advances and progress have been made. This is an area that the Government has taken very seriously. It is the first Government to have a specific Department and Minister for children and a child and family agency with a very clearly defined role relating to the well-being of children.
I am glad the Minister shares my concerns but he is the Minister at the helm of that Department and can act on those concerns. There are 160 vacant posts across the Child and Family Agency, which is operating at 70% of its staffing levels. This is in its first year so there is no point clapping ourselves on the back that we have formed a new agency if that agency will not do the job it is tasked with doing. What is being done about the €25 million that has been spent on legal fees by the agency? Can one imagine the difference that €25 million would make in the provision of front-line services? In terms of the budget provision for the remainder of this year, will a Supplementary Estimate be brought forward to ensure that front-line services are not compromised? In terms of the 2015 budget, will the Minister be able to secure from his colleagues around the Cabinet table the additional resources that Mr. Jeyes, who is at the helm of this organisation, said he will need just to stand still next year?
To be clear around these figures, approximately one third of 9,473 cases awaiting a dedicated social worker are deemed to be high priority. They comprise the following: a child subject to care proceedings, where there is an ongoing child protection concern; a child with non-approved foster carers; a child in care for less than six months; and a child in an non-stable placement. All these children have been in contact with and have been contacted by social workers and the duty social worker is always available. All emergencies are dealt with so there is never a case of any child who is at serious risk and who needs to be removed from a home being left in that home or situation. I want to assure people of that.
The legal fees are an issue that Deputy Troy's Government presided over and set.
Come on. The Government has been in office for four years. This is a new agency that was established under this Administration.
I did not interrupt the Deputy. If the truth hurts so much, perhaps he would be as well to leave the Chamber.
No, I will not leave the Chamber.
Deputy Troy's Government established the HSE and this legal process.
The Minister was going to abolish it. That is why he is here now. Why is he in this Department?
It has left the inheritance for the people with which we are all very familiar. To come in here and demand that a new agency, that has inherited all these problems from his Government, should solve them all within a year of being established is preposterous, and Deputy Troy knows it.
We were not given a proper budget to start with.
