Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Mr. Jeyes and his colleagues to this meeting. He spoke about a sustainable budget and the implications of the current budget on the provision of services. Will he confirm for us what the carry-over deficit was when the new agency was established on 1 January this year? In regard to the transfer of staff from the HSE to Tusla, will he confirm that appropriate and necessary staff were transferred and that it does not have an excess of administrative staff to the detriment of staff of front-line services, such as social workers?
Mr. Jeyes mentioned the issue of legal fees. The legal fees that have been incurred by this section within the HSE previously are nothing short of scandalous. We read a report in The Sunday Business Posttwo or more years ago which indicated that in one year the legal fees broke the €30 million ceiling. What steps have been taken to reduce these fees and has there been a downward trajectory in fees over the past number of years which indicates that progress is being made and fees are decreasing steadily?
Mr. Jeyes spoke about multi-agency work and the new joint protocol between key HSE services, but says this needs to be strengthened and care needs to be taken to ensure parallel reforms remain complementary. When Tusla was established, two of the key areas that the task force recommended be under the control of the agency were public health nurses and child and adult mental health. We should have robust protocols in place at this stage for these areas. Mr. Jeyes has said that without this, there is a danger of reinforcing significant service gaps. I would think that given the recommendation that these areas should come under the remit of the agency from the start, a robust protocol would be in place by now. Has there been any consultation with the Department of Health and Children in regard to moving these areas over to the Child and Family Agency as recommended?
On the issue of early years education and care, we are all aware of the RTE programme "A Breach of Trust," which was broadcast over a year ago. Reform has been disappointingly slow. I do not know who set the timeframes, but targets set by the Child and Family Agency or the Department have not been met. One of the recommendations was that all areas of the country should have an inspector, but has that happened? The agency continues to employ public health nurses to act as inspectors. Why is that, considering the recommendation that professionals from the early childhood care sector should be able to apply for these positions? Some Labour Court ruling is often cited as the reason they cannot apply. Will Mr. Jeyes provide that Labour Court ruling?
The new standards due to be published this summer still have not been published. Where are they? In April 2014, Tusla committed to a consultation process on the new registration process, but that has yet to happen. Why is that? I raised the matter of the provision of SNAs with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, this morning. The primary responsibility to ensure children with special educational needs get the necessary supports to get to preschool and be included in the system with all other children remains with the HSE. Can the witnesses confirm that is the case? What has the agency done to ensure the necessary supports are put in place and to ensure a uniform approach throughout the country? The current approach to SNA provision is piecemeal, and provision all depends on where a preschool is located.
I will leave issues such as the lack of social workers to other colleagues to highlight, although I raised the issue with the Minister this morning.