Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 October 2015
7. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps he will take in response to the funding pressures to child and family services, as highlighted by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency; if he will respond to the agency's need for increased funding over a period of three years to fund cases where children and families are not allocated a social worker; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35511/15]
View answerThe question relates to the need for a programme over the next three years at least to ensure that Tusla has the required funding to carry out its remit.
The Tusla 2016 Estimates business case identified a requirement of €137 million over a three-year period. This included a request for additional capital funding of €11.5 million. I was pleased to be able to allocate significant extra resources to Tusla for 2016. The overall level of funding that I have provided will significantly strengthen Tusla's base funding level and will give the agency greater capacity to respond to current risk and anticipated demand, addressing areas of currently unmet need during 2016. The 2016 gross funding allocation under budget 2016 includes an allocation of €676 million for Tusla, representing an increase of €38 million over the 2015 allocation. This includes €662.4 million in current expenditure and €13.6 million in capital expenditure.
The additional resources are intended to alleviate service pressures in child welfare and protection services, in particular pressures being faced in the areas of unallocated cases, private residential and foster care, and domestic sexual and gender-based violence strategy. In addition, my Department expects to provide supplementary funding of approximately €20.7 million to Tusla in 2015. That is in addition to the €38 million.
This level of provision addresses all of the key priorities identified by Tusla and considered to be achievable in 2016. The funding provision will give rise to a substantial recruitment programme involving up to 400 additional staff next year.
In accordance with the agency's establishing legislation, my Department will be issuing a detailed performance statement to inform the preparation of Tusla's business plan for 2016. This statement will set out the key priorities that I will require of Tusla in the coming year. I am very pleased that having asked Tusla for a detailed business case setting out the basis for seeking additional resources in 2016, I have been able to provide significant extra funding that will strengthen its funding base and secure the delivery of quality services.
I thank the Minister for his response. While there has been a €38 million increase for 2016 and a Supplementary Estimate of €20 million for this year, by all accounts the three-card trick of Supplementary Estimates will not be available next year to the Government because of the pressures under the fiscal treaty. This should not be a once-off increase in funding to make it appear that Tusla's issues were being addressed. Is this a programme that will continue over the coming years? The €38 million represents less than a third of what Tusla claims it needs just to stand still and meet its statutory requirements.
It is startling that Tusla admits it is in default of its statutory obligations, with 8,800 children without an allocated social worker. Of those, 1,730 are classified as very high priority. There is a crisis that needs to be addressed. While what is proposed for 2016 is acceptable, what is the plan for 2017 and 2018?
I remind the Deputy that many Departments have had Supplementary Estimates over the years; they are not new. What is different about this year is that we have been able to predict much earlier what that supplementary budget would be and therefore accommodated it in a much more transparent way than in other years where it came in at the last minute before Christmas. Allegations of three-card tricks do not stand up.
On the broader issue, Tusla has a three-year plan. We have met the requirement as outlined by it for 2016. It also has to gear up which is quite a challenge for it. It will need to employ a significant number of additional social workers. It is well advanced in doing that, as I said in response to an earlier question. More than 100 have been recruited with the recruitment of approximately another 100 in process. We have arranged the funding for this year's recruitment going from 218 social workers to 256 or 254 and there is funding for another 174 next year. It will need to recruit many people over the next year. While that will be a challenge, I believe it is one it will be able to meet in order to address this issue, which has been with us for a long time.
While the increase in funding now is welcome, Tusla has identified a deficit of €132 million required over the next three years just basically to meet what it states are its statutory requirements. That is not to talk about early intervention programmes.
Other Deputies earlier spoke about the family resource centres. Those centres' work has the potential to prevent children coming into contact with Tusla, thereby saving money in the long run. Those are the matters it needs to address.
By all accounts, the Supplementary Estimate granted this year will not be available next year in such a way. It is a bit of fancy accounting that has made it happen this year. What are the programme and plan to allow Tusla to meet its needs and do the vital work of protecting children?
Tusla's plan will become very clear once it has submitted its business plan to me. We will consider it and it will be published. It will be very clear to every Deputy then.
I wish to reassure people that when we talk about high-priority cases, these are not children in any immediate risk. Anybody in immediate risk is looked after immediately. In other words - I have given this example previously - if a teacher is concerned about a child being abused that morning, before that child leaves school that day a social worker will be involved. We take this issue very seriously.
Where Tusla is in breach of its statutory obligations is with regard to children in care who are not considered to be at risk but do not have an allocated social worker, which is just not good enough. I and Tusla would love to be able to address all this in a year, but that is not possible. It has outlined a very practical three-year plan to address an issue that has been with society for decades. Until Deputy Shatter raised this matter in opposition, we were not even counting the number of children who were dying in care.
