Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I will try to contribute in the good spirit of the Minister when he concluded his presentation.

Mr. Jeyes was before us this morning and highlighted the alarming issue of the IT support Tusla is receiving from the HSE. I am not in any way criticising the Minister but I believe he needs to intervene. Tusla is receiving support in the region of 0.5% but it needs this to be increased to 5%. Intervention is needed at a very senior level in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Health to ensure Tusla is adequately supported with IT. The Minister needs to take this on board and intervene very quickly.

I recently raised with the Minister on Question Time the capacity and expansion of the ECCE scheme, and he said he has commenced a mapping exercise. Will he indicate who will conduct it? When will it be completed and what measures will be introduced to support areas where there is a deficiency in the supply of places? In replying to a parliamentary question of mine last year, the Minister cited capacity of approximately 10,000 spaces. The expansion of the community child care scheme alone, which it must be acknowledged is very welcome, involves an initial 8,000 places. I genuinely fear that with the introduction of the scheme, there will be serious capacity issues in some regions, although I acknowledge there will not be in others. What measures will the Minister take to ensure there are no capacity issues, regardless of location?

The community employees who work in community child care settings can currently form part of the ratio numbers.

I think that is to cease next September and they are still unaware of what supports will be put in place to help them cater for this. I serve on the board of a community child care facility, so I know that without the community employees the facility would not be viable; we would not be able to re-hire our community employee workers as core staff. What plans does the Minister have in place to address this for September 2016?

It is unbelievable that the 2014 independent report by Dr. Geoffrey Shannon has not been published or laid before the Dáil. I was critical of the Minister's predecessor for not publishing the report before the summer recess. The 2015 report will be launched by the Department shortly, yet we have not had an opportunity to discuss the 2014 one. It is an important piece of work, not just for the Minister and his Department, but also for all Members of the Oireachtas, in order to see how we can address and advance the issues of concern raised by the independentrapporteur. Perhaps the Minister can indicate when that matter will come before the Dáil.

We had representatives of Tusla before the joint committee this morning. We still do not have a full complement of social workers. I acknowledge that we have had after care legislation, namely the Child Care (Amendment) Bill, and the Children First Bill, but those will only put added pressure on the number of social workers available. How does the Minister intend to deal with that?

As regards the departmental supplementary budget, last week I asked the Minister to come back with an outline of how much we are spending on legal fees. Today, Tusla said that, in 2014, €38 million was spent on legal fees. It is scandalous when 6,000 child welfare referral files remain unassessed.

I recently met a number of front-line staff working at Oberstown. This committee had staff appearing here before the summer break. We sent a report to the Minister but my information is that things are not getting better, rather they are getting worse. I was given an example of a young resident of Oberstown who held the unit to ransom. Staff were locked up in an office and the inmate, or resident, was wielding a TV bracket as a weapon.

Another young resident took a concoction of illegal substances. Senior management refused to call gardaí for back-up despite a request to do so by paramedics. Is the Minister confident that senior management is engaging sufficiently with front-line personnel at Oberstown? These are serious concerns. I understand that there is a threat of industrial action and a ballot is to be taken within the next two weeks. Greater intervention is needed to provide support to those working at the coalface. One man told me he has been working for 30 years between Oberstown and other similar institutions, yet he never saw it as bad as it is now. When this new campus opened, everyone - regardless of our political persuasion - thought things would get better. None of us thought things would go into reverse. The Minister should inform us how he intends to intervene there.

What official protocols are in place to deal with the child and adolescent mental health services, or CAMHS? Recent figures concerning the length of time teenagers are awaiting psychological assessment are worrying. While it is not under the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, surely there is an official protocol for dealing with this matter.

On a positive note, I compliment the Minister for introducing the special educational fund for children with disabilities who are attending the pre-school service. It is possibly the best piece of good news announced in his Department's budget. I have been highlighting the matter for a number of years, so I hope it will be quickly rolled out.