I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 and 126 together.
I welcome the report of the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) “Safety and Welfare of Children in Direct Provision” and my Department accepts its recommendations in full.
It has been my view for quite some time that the system of Direct Provision of accommodation and services is not fit for purpose and requires replacement. To that end this Government committed to ending the Direct Provision system and to replacing it with a new International Protection accommodation policy, centred on a not-for-profit approach. The Government also committed to developing a White Paper to set out how the new system will be structured and the steps to achieving it.
As the Deputy will be aware, I published the White Paper to End Direct Provision and to establish a New International Protection Support Service on 26 February 2021. My Department is currently now working to implement the proposals cointained therein.
As part of the White Paper process we listened to the voices of children in Direct Provision and to the OCO. The new model has the human rights of children at its core. The new International Protection system will respect the rights of children and will provide child-friendly services, including a child-friendly vulnerability assessments. This was agreed with the OCO during the development of the White Paper. The new model will combat isolation and help children to integrate into their new communities by promoting English language support and other school-based supports. Furthermore, by promoting an own-door accommodation model for families, a child’s right to privacy will be more fully respected under the new system.
In launching the report referred to by the Deputy, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, noted the very positive engagement of the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) of my Department and I can assure him and this House that my Department will continue to engage with the OCO to address the issues identified in his report.
Although the report was only recently published the Ombudsman's investigation leading to its publication was commenced in 2018. Work has been undertaken since then by IPAS on some of the issues raised in the report. IPAS has developed a series of actions, planned for the short to medium term, to ensure the recommendations in the OCO report are implemented in full and as quickly as possible.
A new dedicated Customer Service unit is now in place and part of its remit will be proactively to engage with residents in IPAS accommodation centres to establish effective methods of communication, including as regards children living in IPAS accommodation. Any resident may contact the IPAS customer service unit by email at: ipasinbox@equality.gov.ie with any issues and my officials in IPAS will work to resolve them without delay.
In addition, a confidential Freephone telephone support service, funded by, but independent of, my Department, was established in May 2020 to provide further support to residents who are being accommodated by my Department. This Freephone confidential support helpline is operated by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Any complaint made through this service may be passed in confidence to IPAS for investigation and resolution.
International Protection applicants will have the right to pursue a grievance or complaint about any aspect of the services that they receive through the accommodation process. International Protection applicants will continue to have recourse to the Ombudsman and to the Ombudsman for Children, to pursue an issue of concern about their experiences in the system.
The existing Child and Family Services Unit will be enhanced and incorporated into a new Resident Welfare Team that will develop a case management system for families and children identified as having special reception needs at the vulnerability assessment stage. The Unit will review family needs regularly to ensure that those needs continue to be met as a family progresses through their application. The Resident Welfare Team will be a multi-disciplinary team with experts from the fields of education, health and childcare seconded.
The IPAS has also engaged Barnardos to provide training to all centres and emergency accommodation locations, on 'Understanding Child Development through a Trauma Informed Lens'. This training began rolling out last year and will assist with ensuring that centre staff and managers are aware of the impact of trauma on children and understand how that may inform the behaviour of any child or indeed adult who has been impacted by trauma.
The key priority will be to move all remaining children and families still in residing in congregated hotel style living, to own door or independent living accommodation. Therefore a public procurement process will take place in 2021 with the aim of securing the additional spaces required to enable IPAS to end the use of emergency accommodation. The procurement will have a specific focus on the provision of child friendly accommodation that will allow parents and children to enjoy a normal private family life.
A new Vulnerability Assessment process is currently being piloted by the IPAS. The pilot commenced in December 2020 and was extended to all new applicants for International Protection from the beginning of February. The purpose of these assessments is to determine if an applicant is deemed to have special reception needs, what those needs are and what actions are required to address those needs. Assessment questions are based on the various categories of vulnerability identified within the EU Reception Conditions Directive 2013/33/EU, and have been refined within the Irish context with the help of the HSE.
Over the past number of years, Tusla has seconded a social work team leader to IPAS. The secondee manages the Child and Family Services Unit in IPAS and provides Children First and associated training to accommodation centre staff and maps out with the centre manager how to engage with local family support services. There are many examples of projects established in local areas to assist families, living in IPAS accommodation, integrate into local culture and to support parenting.
The Children and Family Services Unit manager also assists Tusla social workers and families if a child welfare or protection concern arises while a family is living in an accommodation centre. The Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) National Coordinator and the manager of the Child and Family Services Unit work closely on liaising with other third party services who provide supports to children and families living in centres around the country.
Since the recent publication of the OCO report, Tusla has committed to publishing their Direct Provision Policy, 2021, for all staff working with children and families living in direct provision accommodation. The policy states that each Direct Provision accommodation centre will have a named point of contact within the relevant Tusla area. The policy also clarifies the ongoing role of the Children and Young Persons Services Committees (CYPSCs) in co-ordinating services and ensuring that children in direct provision are included in these services.
All existing centres and all new centres are required to develop a child safeguarding statement. An IPAS Audit of compliance will take place this year in cooperation with Tusla. Safeguarding Statements will be translated and made available to all residents. Additional child safety training will also be rolled out to all centre managers as COVID restrictions allow.
IPAS will continue to work with Tusla during 2021 to develop interagency protocols and operating procedures that will support the sharing of case information between Tusla and IPAS and to track and monitor referrals and cases from beginning to end.
All of this activity will be supported through the provision of additional human resources to IPAS and the transition team to help meet the parallel challenges of addressing identified weaknesses in the current system in the short term and implementing the White Paper proposals for a not-for-profit service delivery model to replace the current system in the longer term. I understand that recruitment in this regard has already commenced.
In addition, Tusla is reviewing its IT system to plan for the next stage of the development of the National Child Care Information System (NCCIS) and consideration will be given to enable referrals children living in IPAS accommodation, along with other specified groups of children, to be tracked on a national basis.
