Mr. Ger Brophy:

When referrals come in to the social work department from schools and a variety of other sources, and schools are one of our top two referrers, the referrals are assessed in the first instance. As Mr. Gloster has said, we have introduced a programmed called Signs of Safety. Teachers may experience a series of questions that come from the duty intake social worker who, again, is trying to establish if harm is present. We have gone around each of the 17 areas to ensure that there is more consistency than what there has been in terms of the application of thresholds. That means, with the Signs of Safety model, we ask more questions, establish whether harm has happened and provide appropriate support. Often times that would be welfare services that are based in the local community. Working through that, if concerns continue, schools are perfectly free to, and often do, come back and have that discussion with duty staff on the second or third occasion.