Ms Michele Clarke:

By way of background, it is important to point out that of the over 700 cases currently listed as high priority, they comprise three different categories of children. The first is those children coming to Tusla for the first time, unknown to the agency, and who are waiting for a first assessment. The second group is children who are already in the system. They may be well known and may have been receiving a service for quite a period but perhaps their social worker has left. Accordingly, while awaiting a replacement, they become a high-priority unallocated case. The third are children in care who obviously are known to Tusla but, again, where their social worker has left.

There are three different categories. Immediate and urgent cases are always dealt with immediately. There is no case of an urgent immediate concern about a child which is not picked up within 24 hours.