Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2019
568. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the degree to which her Department or bodies under her aegis can quickly respond to and take appropriate action in response to reports of suspected child abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43582/19]
View answer569. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she has available to her Department the adequate resources to respond to and treat children that may be the subject of physical, mental or sexual abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43583/19]
View answer573. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the degree to which her Department remains alert to and can respond quickly to all forms of child abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43588/19]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 568, 569 and 573 together.
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is the statutory body with responsibility for child protection and welfare services. If I, or my officials, become aware of a situation in which a child is considered to be at risk, that concern is communicated to Tusla as a matter of urgency.
If a child appears to be at risk of harm or neglect, the concerns should be reported to Tusla. Anyone can report a concern about a child to Tusla, and information on how to do so is available on the Tusla website. If a child is at immediate risk or in danger, the Gardaí should be alerted without delay.
Tusla act urgently on notification of an immediate risk to a child. Children who are in a situation of immediate risk may initially be dealt with by An Garda Síochána or by Tusla, but in the main both agencies work together in such cases. Tusla, when alerted to a child at immediate risk, for instance a young child left alone at home or abandoned, will contact AGS if the child needs to be removed from that situation.
Gardaí have specific powers under Section 12 of the Child Care Act to remove a child from a situation of danger, and under Section 13 of that same act to deliver that child into the custody of Tusla. Tusla will at that point carry out an assessment to determine the child's needs. This may in some cases include applying for an Emergency Care Order. In all cases, a plan will be put in place to ensure that the child is safe from harm.
Tusla have implemented Signs of Safety, a child protection methodology which has at its core the involvement of the child in any assessment and decision making process.
Timely response to reported concerns is a key objective for Tusla, and my Departments officials work closely with the senior management team to reduce waiting times, including through investment in partnership, prevention and family support services that provide for a community-led response to referrals that do not reach the threshold for a child protection or social-work led intervention.
In 2015, the Children First Act placed key elements of the Children First National Guidance on a statutory basis. The Act provides for a number of key child protection required measures including mandated reporting of child protection concerns to the Child and Family Agency by designated persons, compliance with best practice in child protection as set out in the Children First Guidance, and development of an organisation-specific Child Safeguarding Statement. Organisations providing service to children are obliged to identify areas of risk to children in their services and to set out mitigating factors. The Safeguarding Statement is to be made available publicly.
Tusla also has a dedicated Quality Assurance Team. This team produces monthly, quarterly and annual reports in respect of Tusla's functions, including detailed reporting on child safety and protection services. Tusla provides monthly, quarterly and annual information on children in care, their placement type, care status and allocation of social workers and these are published on their website. My officials scrutinise these reports and brief me and the Secretary General on issues of note. The reports provide statistical evidence of improvements to child welfare and protection services and highlights challenges and areas where further improvement is required, such as the recruitment of additional social workers.
Officials from my Department meet Tusla management on a regular basis to review the level of service provision, including areas in need of improvement.
