Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015
490. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will address the deficiencies in social work resources on the northside of Dublin, where there were 3,797 referrals over a 12 month period. [28484/15]
View answerThe Health Information and Quality Authority recently published its report on an inspection of the child welfare and protection services in the Dublin North administrative area of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. HIQA identified two areas of significant risk in the 27 standards examined: firstly, delays in assessments by dedicated social workers, and secondly, management of assessments of adults who were alleged to pose a risk to children. These risks were attributed largely to staffing deficits being experienced in the area. They were brought to the attention of the area manager during the inspection and immediate action taken. The associated action plan has been accepted by HIQA and there are clear timelines for completion before the end of the year.
Tusla has confirmed that as part of the action plan, resources will be made available to meet the demands of the plan as agreed with the management team. Vacant posts are currently being filled through a variety of measures including agency staff, and recruitment from the national Recruitment Service panels. Internal to Tusla, staff have been diverted to work with children and families on the waiting lists. Tusla expects that the additional resources will address the concerns in respect of cases pending.
