Child Abuse

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 October 2018

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

Questions (228)

Clare Daly

Question:

228. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 571 of 2 October 2018, the reason Tusla does not collect data on the number of child sexual abuse assessments that make findings of founded or unfounded, respectively; her views on whether a failure to collect such data precludes pattern analysis that might detect risks or anomalies in rates of findings across different service areas; and if she will convey to Tusla the importance of this data being collected and analysed. [41383/18]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

I am informed by Tusla that currently data is not collected nationally on the number of child sexual abuse assessments that are ‘founded’ and ‘unfounded’. Historically Tusla has not collated founded/unfounded cases nationally within Key Performance Indicators as these terms refer to outcomes and are not useful as measurements of performance. This is something I will ask Tusla to consider in the context of the data collated and reported to my Department, which is reviewed regularly.

There are other mechanisms in place which can detect anomalies in the services provided by Tusla. The Quality Assurance Directorate of Tusla is charged with monitoring the quality of decision making across services, including analysing patterns of activity. This year has also seen the introduction of the National Child Care Information system to all Tusla areas. The development of the NCCIS will facilitate the process of collecting information on outcomes (such as founded and unfounded decisions) and assist in national decision making capacity, in keeping with Tusla’s Child Protection and Welfare Strategy.