Written Answers Nos. 255 - 263
255. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the exceptional reasons for which Tusla will deviate from its standard policy of not placing children under 12 years of age in residential care. [35250/16]
View answerIt is Departmental and Tusla policy that, in general, children 12 years and under in care should be placed in foster care. The policy recognises that, occasionally, it may be in the interest of a younger child to be placed in an age appropriate residential centre for assessment or therapeutic intervention. This should only occur if it is in line with the child's care plan.
The Review of Adequacy 2014 indicates that there were 6,454 children in care at the end of 2014. Of these 3,988 were aged 12 or under, and 44 (approximately 1%) were in residential care.
256. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of inspections and the number of visitations of each child care provider and the number of providers inspected, in each Tusla service area in 2015 and 2016, in tabular form. [35283/16]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Child and Family Agency/Tusla to consider the Deputy’s request and to respond directly to the Deputy with the information she requests in no later than 10 working days. I have asked my officials to follow up on this and to ensure delivery of the information to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
257. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of crèches or other centre based child care facilities that had more than one inspection by Tusla in 2015 or in 2016; the location of these facilities; and if reasons are provided for a second or subsequent inspection. [35380/16]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Child and Family Agency/Tusla to consider the Deputy’s request and to respond directly to the Deputy with the information she requests in no later than 10 working days. I have asked my officials to follow up on this and to ensure delivery of the information to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
258. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of crèches or other centre based child care facilities that were found not to be compliant with child care staff to child ratios in each year since the introduction of these regulations. [35381/16]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Child and Family Agency/Tusla to consider the Deputy’s request and to respond directly to the Deputy with the information she requests in no later than 10 working days. I have asked my officials to follow up on this and to ensure delivery of the information to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
259. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of unannounced visitations to child care facilities that took place in 2015 and 2016 in each Tusla service region; her views on whether the centre based child care facilities should receive at least one unannounced visit by Tusla inspectors per year; and her Department's and Tusla guidelines on the number of unannounced visitations there should be. [35382/16]
View answerTUSLA has responsibility for the inspection of childcare services. Inspection is carried out to monitor compliance with the Child Care (Pre-School) (No 2) Regulations with the aim of ensuring the health, safety and welfare of children enrolled in pre-school services.
Budget 2017 provided €1 million to enhance the level of inspection of child care services provided by Tusla and the Department of Education and Skills and my Department will be engaging with Tusla to facilitate the recruitment of additional inspectors in 2017.
The detailed information sought by the Deputy is not currently available in my Department in the format requested. However, I have requested Tusla to provide the information which will be supplied to the Deputy no later than 10 working days. I have asked my officials follow up on this to ensure delivery as a matter of urgency.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
Tusla has responsibility for the inspection of childcare services. Inspection is carried out to monitor compliance with the Child Care (Pre-school) (No. 2) Regulations with the aim of ensuring the health, safety and welfare of children enrolled in pre-school services.
Budget 2017 provided €1 million to enhance the level of inspection of child care services provided by Tusla and the Department of Education and Skills and my Department will be engaging with Tusla to facilitate the recruitment of additional inspectors in 2017.
Tusla currently does not collect data in respect of unannounced visits. They are currently in the process of building a comprehensive ICT framework which will assist in data collection and collation, however, it should be noted that it has been Tusla policy to carry out inspections on an unannounced basis heretofore.
I can confirm that Tusla undertakes unannounced inspections for the majority of inspections. With the commencement of registration as detailed in the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 the requirement is that all new early years services when registering with Tusla must be inspected prior to opening the service. This pre-registration visit is scheduled with the provider with all other inspections remaining unannounced. In a few instances it may be necessary to schedule a time with the registered provider regarding a complaint investigation to ensure that the relevant staff are available for interviewing. The legislation requires that an early years service is registered every three years however Tusla is working towards ensuring services receive an inspection every 18 months.
260. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the regulations in terms of staff to child ratios and other child welfare and protection regulations that exist for after school child care; her views on whether regulations in this area are not requisite to deal with expansion in the after-school sector for children up to 15 years of age; and her further views on whether they will need to be strengthened. [35383/16]
View answerSchool age childcare is not currently regulated in the State. The Programme for a Partnership Government 2016 contained specific commitments relating to School age childcare, including a commitment to the introduction of a new system to support and expand quality afterschool care for school age children. In view of these commitments, a Working Group on School Age Childcare was established in June 2016, comprising senior officials from my Department and from the Department of Education and Skills.
I expect the Working Group to report to me and to Minister Bruton shortly. The Working Group is expected to recommend that National Quality Standards be produced for school age childcare as a first step towards regulating the sector, and this work will commence immediately.
261. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if it is a statutory requirement for child care providers to maintain a logging system noting hourly supervision rotas and the staff to child ratios that pertained on any given day. [35384/16]
View answerThe Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016 require registered service providers to ensure that there is at all times an adequate number of adults working directly with the children attending the pre-school service, and to apply the minimum ratio of adults to children as set out in Schedule 6 of the Regulations.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has the statutory responsibility for enforcing the Regulations, and it is a matter for Tusla to determine the evidence it requires to determine whether the Regulations are being complied with.
262. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on a State sponsored voluntary DNA website for all those who have been in care in order to trace family and relatives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35413/16]
View answerIn the vast majority of instances, the family of a child or young person in State care is known to them and, of course, to Tusla – the Child and Family Agency. On that basis, there are no plans to establish a State sponsored voluntary DNA website in order that those who have been in care can trace their relatives.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Child Care Act 1991 and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 are the two main pieces of legislation governing children in care. Under these Acts, Tusla has a statutory duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. A core principle of Ireland’s care system is the maintenance of relationships with a child’s natural family unless, of course, it is considered that such contact is not in the child’s best interests.
In some cases, parents may agree to their children being taken into the care of Tusla on a voluntary basis that is with the agreement of the child’s parent(s) or guardian(s). In others, Tusla may apply to the court for a care order. It should be noted that 93% of children in State care are in foster care and almost 30% of them have been placed with relatives.
Tusla has informed me that details in relation to family members and relatives and significant others are retained on the child’s care file. Information in relation to these people is made available to the child during their time in care.
However, in some cases, children may not have details in relation to both of their natural parents. In such instances, social workers work closely with the family members to ascertain this information for the child(ren).
In the exceptional circumstance where no natural parents or relatives can be identified for a child who has come into care, namely with unaccompanied minors, Tusla makes extensive searches, and supports children and young people in searching for their family. Reunification with family is considered a priority for children in these circumstances.
263. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the stage the process is at in the report of the commission of inquiry that was handed in on 16 September 2016; her views regarding the completion timeline of the report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35419/16]
View answerAs I recently advised the Deputy, I have met with the three members of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes to discuss the submitted Second Interim Report and the general progress being made with the investigation.
Given the scope of the Commission's work a number of topics in the Report extend beyond the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. For this reason, it has been necessary to consult with my cabinet colleagues and the Attorney General on these issues. In addition, I have sought additional information from the Commission to assist in these deliberations.
It is my intention to publish the Report in conjunction with Government's response to the findings of the Report. I hope to conclude this process as quickly as possible and I will ensure the publication arrangements are notified directly to the various advocacy groups representing former residents and their families.
