Mr. Gordon Jeyes:

I thank the Chairman. I will address each point in the order received. At the beginning I said there was no hiding place, and it is good for children's services that Tusla has to come to this committee to give an account; it is not part of the HSE megalith. There is even less of a hiding place in 2016 because of the funding made available. This has happened, in part, because Tusla established its credibility and has a clear database upon which it based the budget that was presented to Government. There has been a very constructive response to the under-funding and a number of issues can be addressed. Tusla presented a three year strategy, because one cannot change everything at once, and in the main the Government has responded to a request for year one. Once that is done there will be further budget pressures needed for 2017 and beyond. Tusla will have to make that case based on the success of the 2016 programme. This applies especially to Children First because while we can look to other countries and the impact of mandated reporters and reporting there, we will not know until it operates here. To a great extent Ireland already has mandatory reporting because of the efficient way it is done in An Garda Síochána, so it is elements of that process which are being taken forward. It ties in with how we are going to address the unsatisfactory level of what we refer to as unallocated cases.

The Deputy made reference to aftercare plans. We are ready for aftercare plans and we have a much more consistent policy on the supports for all young people who are in education and training, which is Tusla's responsibility. Due to the scourge of youth unemployment, we as a society have to do more to support these young people who are not in education and training, be it further adult education or practical assistance. These are young adult citizens of the State who need championing in accessing housing, health services, training and necessary employment. It is not about Tusla providing a second class service, it is about making sure there are sufficient after-care workers and plans to give these young people a sense of hope and to enable them access the services to which they are entitled.

Reference was made to the Ombudsman's report. There is a difficulty with all these reports and scrutiny - we are at this committee today, with my colleagues from HIQA this afternoon and we will meet with the Department of Health tomorrow - in that the report referred to Tusla data which was more than a year out of date. There is a more detailed issue in what is meant by "in a timely manner", in how that is subscribed and in the way referrals are dealt with. This is why Tusla is introducing meitheal, why we seek to divert and why we are seeking to ensure that all contacts with Tusla are responded to efficiently, effectively and proportionately.

I will address the figures in more detail when I come to Deputy Ó Caoláin's questions since he quoted the figures. The issue has improved and will improve further in detailed and specified ways during 2016.

The complement of social workers is kept much more up to date than was heretofore the case. Posts on maternity leave are replaced and while the appointments wait to be filled, if agency staff are available they can go in. We do, absolutely, need to get to the stage where all referrals are responded to. There are some local recruitment difficulties in the more remote areas. For example, we are currently running a more specific and bespoke recruitment campaign for Sligo. My colleague Mr. Fred McBride will update the committee on the situation in the midlands.