Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some of Deputy O'Sullivan's questions dovetailed with those from other Deputies, especially in terms of Tusla, child welfare and protection, the concern about unallocated social workers, and the recruitment of social workers to help meet that concern. Additional funding of €6.1 million has been provided in 2016 to deal with this issue. Tusla's target is to reduce by 60% the number of cases awaiting allocation. In terms of reducing the number of cases awaiting allocation, there is a direct link between that and the number of social workers it is recruiting to which I will return shortly.

The reduction of high priority cases to less than 5% of all unallocated cases is a target that is going down. The target in regard to unallocated cases in general is not going down as quickly as we had hoped at this point but we anticipate that Tusla will continue to move towards that target, particularly in light of the recruitment of its social workers. It has identified a target of whole-time equivalent social workers working within Tusla of 1,576 by the end of 2016. That will represent, as many Deputies are aware, a net increase of 168 social workers. However, Tusla needs to increase the number of its whole-time equivalent social workers by a further 64 by the end of the year to meet its targets.

Many of the Deputies are aware that there is a proactive campaign by Tusla to recruit social workers. More than 300 applications were received, and those people will be interviewed in July and August. It is important to say, however, that some of the moneys are focused on having a holistic response in terms of the protection and care of children. It is not just about social workers; it is a multi-disciplinary approach. Tusla is looking for clerical and administrative staff as well as social workers. We are cautiously hopeful that it will make that target but clearly it is dependent on the numbers it recruits.

Deputies may be aware that Tusla has proactively engaged in an audit of retrospective cases. That is a very good piece of work but it may take away some energy and resources, although we hope it will not impact on the target for reducing the number of unallocated cases.

I assure Deputies that I am aware of this problem. I have already had three meetings, in my short term, with the chief executive and the chair. I have had a meeting with the board of Tusla. I have identified the area of the recruitment of social workers in terms of the unallocated cases, particularly as a key priority of mine.

Deputy Rabbitte was helpful in pointing out the spread of concern about where the lower number of the unallocated cases are. Clearly, I am sure the matter will be taken into account in terms of planning by Tusla once it gets the new folks on board.

A couple of members mentioned aftercare services, including Deputies Jan O'Sullivan and Ó Laoghaire. Aftercare services are a particular concern of mine. Between 450 and 500 18 year olds leave care every year and some of them are very vulnerable. Some need support to go on to third level education and many of them continue living with their foster carers. Tusla, since implementing its aftercare policy, there is an aftercare plan for each child or young person prior to leaving in the form of aftercare support, including financial support. Around 45% of the young people who have left care are in ongoing education and training.

Concerns were expressed about the implementation and commencement of the aftercare plan. We are aware of the need to prepare for the commencement of that piece of legislation. We have indicated that this is a priority in terms of Tusla and hope it will be in a position in order to do this work, as soon as possible. I ask members to please come back to me if I have not covered their question.

I was very pleased to visit the Oberstown campus last week. I was very impressed with the leadership, both the current director and the senior management. I was impressed by their awareness and willingness to drive change in a transition programme, in light of the huge efforts made over the past couple of years to amalgamate the place into a single campus with a single set of governance. They have also brought into play a new way of understanding and being with young people in that context. People are aware that it is a detention school and not a prison. On my visit I spent a lot of time in the school. As I said to the young residents, as I gave them their certificates, my wish for them is their freedom, that they were in a school and were in a learning setting within the context of the detention centre.

I shall now talk more specifically about the questions posed by members. I feel that the moneys allocated to Oberstown have been used very wisely in terms of staffing, the design and construction of the build and then the governance. Good progress has been made with staffing and it has been a key issue. The centre continues to drive the venture by having increased recruitment of staff. Obviously we are aware of the negotiations taking place at the Workplace Relations Commission. I am glad that all parties are back at the negotiating table and other offers and suggestions have been made to the staff.

We plan to open one additional unit shortly and I hope that will happen at the beginning of the school calendar year. It would mean we would have all 17 year olds in the one place. The director of the campus told me that he anticipates and hopes the unit will be provided by 1 September, which would be extremely significant. It would end forever the need to accommodate children in adult prisons, which is a very big deal. I believe the project is on target.

Deputy Rabbitte asked about training. An ongoing training programme is being provided by the staff at Oberstown. Again, this is part of the industrial relations issues. A progressive and empowering approach is being utilised and encouraged among staff. Many of them have provided very committed service for many years. There is now an emphasis on the de-escalating of difficult situations and on helping staff to deal with children without having to resort to strong physical intervention.

In terms of the building, one gets a good feeling when one enters the site. Often I experience an emotional intelligence about an environment. Once one moves through the building one notices the design, which reflects the extraordinary effort that was put into the consultation process that lasted a number of months. We had hoped and envisaged that a top class design would result and that has now been implemented. As people are aware, there are some design issues and I saw some of their impact when I visited the centre. The design issues are being worked on and will be resolved as soon as possible. There are some additional expenses. Again, we are looking at providing money to support the work but it is important and has to be done. The practical issues are being worked on and one example is the locks and doors.

In terms of the Garda youth diversion projects, individuals benefit considerably from early intervention. I would like to support the scheme further in 2017. The spending on the projects was €11.5 million in 2014 and we have spent €6.3 million to date in 2016.

In terms of transitioning from care, aftercare plans and my political priorities, the concern around children who are homeless is key, particularly the group who leave care and may be faced with difficulties in terms of homelessness. We are trying to address some of those issues now in preparation for feeding into the plan proposed by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. If more resources are required for this issue, I am willing to look for them.

I take the point made by Deputy Ó Laoghaire about identifying the overall percentage increase in terms of spend midway or at whatever point we are at, and agree with him that it would be helpful. A question was asked about a national child care information technology system. That would be part of it where we will have an ICT system to support social work departments to record data utilised in respect of a child known to Tusla. I think that it is also on target in terms of being rolled out. The roll-out of the system nationally is scheduled to be completed by the end of quarter two of 2017.

As Deputy Rabbitte is aware, the Adoption (Amendment) Bill has passed Second Stage in the Dáil. I am open to dealing with all of the other Stages as soon as possible whenever we can get Dáil time. The adoption (information and tracing) Bill was raised in relation to those questions. To bring us back to discussing the Estimates, we have the money in 2016 and this is how it is being used. We hope to publish the adoption (information and tracing) Bill in early autumn. I would like to be able to take it through the Dáil and the Seanad in the autumn. As I said to Deputy Jan O'Sullivan and others, this is a major priority of mine and I accept that it is also a priority for members.