Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2018
525. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of cases since 2011 in which a newborn child has been removed from the custody of its parents directly or soon after birth; the status of the development of a metric that collates the number of newborn children taken into care directly or soon after birth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22094/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that data is not collated nationally on the number of infants received into the care of Tusla, by way of court order or on a voluntary basis.
Data regarding the number of children in care on 31st December aged less than 1 year of age, the number of admissions to care for children less than 1 year of age, and the number of first time admissions to care for children less than 1 year of age for the years 2011 to 2016, is set out in the following table.
I am advised by Tusla that the most recent data available for this is to the end of 2016, and that figures are expected mid-year for 2017.
|
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
|
Number of Children in Care on 31st December aged less than 1 year of age |
136* |
148* |
136* |
139 |
121 |
85 |
Due Mid 2018 |
|
Number of Admissions to Care during the reporting period for children less than 1 year of age |
230# |
255# |
224# |
231# |
205# |
131** |
Due Mid 2018 |
|
Number of First Time Admissions to Care during the reporting period for children less than 1 year of age |
125 |
Due Mid 2018 |
Notes:
*figures include any children who were in respite care from home on the last day of the year. These children are not included in data for 2015 and 2016.
#figures include admissions into respite care from home. These children are not included in data for 2016
** figure based on complete returns from 16/17 administrative areas and a partial return from the remaining area.
Admissions to care is a count of all admissions to care and not a count of individual children admitted – a child can have more than one admission in a reporting period.
First time admissions is a count of individual children admitted to care. Reporting of this metric commenced in 2016.
