Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 July 2022
110. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which he and his Department can ensure early intervention in all cases where children may be at risk, whether in public or private institutions or in any way dependent on support arising from their vulnerability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36709/22]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, is the statutory body with responsibility for child protection and welfare services.
The Children First Act 2015 provides for a number of key child protection measures, including raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for mandated reporting of child protection concerns and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services to children.
Under the Act mandated persons are required to report child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold to Tusla. Mandated persons are people who have contact with children and/or families and who, because of their qualifications, training and/or employment role, are in a key position to help protect children from harm. Organisations classed as providers of relevant services under the Act are required to undertake a risk assessment and develop a Child Safeguarding Statement (CSS) setting out the procedures in place to manage any risk identified.
The Children First Act operates side-by-side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. The guidance sets out how reports about reasonable concerns of child abuse or neglect should be made by the general public and professionals to Tusla and what organisations need to do to keep children safe.
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, An Garda Síochána (AGS) should be alerted without delay.
Tusla acts 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 AGS or by Tusla, but in the main both agencies work together in such cases.
Tusla has an out of hours emergency number for AGS which provides advice to the AGS based on the circumstances and also can identify whether a child of concern is listed on the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS). The CPNS is a Tusla owned secure database, which lists children who are considered to be at ongoing risk of significant harm.
There is a 24/7 'out of hours' social work team available in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Cork and on call social workers in other areas. Tusla has a network of emergency foster care placements for children in need of emergency care out of hours.
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. Where a child is already in care, Tusla will make a determination as to whether the child is safe in their placement or if they need to be moved.
In April 2021, Tusla published research undertaken by National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) which examined the actions undertaken by Tusla social workers when AGS transfer custody of a child to their care, following the AGS removing the child under Section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991.
A total of 452 cases recorded in Tusla’s Section 12 database for the period July 1st 2016 to June 30th 2017 were analysed. The findings showed that most of the children were aged 15 to 17 years and there were slightly more boys than girls. The research also showed that the most commonly reported reasons for invoking a Section 12 were:
- Severe parenting difficulties
- Parental Alcohol/Drug Abuse
- Child behaviour difficulties.
As the data for the report was collected in 2016/2017 many of the findings of the report, and subsequent recommendations, have been addressed through ongoing service development and improvement in Tusla, including, as mentioned, the standardised processes of communication between Tusla and AGS.
In relation to children in institutions, HIQA inspect all Tusla children's residential centres and the Registration Unit in Tusla inspect and register voluntary and privately run children's residential centres. Reports of inspections are available on the HIQA and Tusla websites.
