Ms Kate Duggan:

As the CEO indicated, the figure of 70,000 is an average referral rate that we would see in any year. The challenge for us is to respond to those referrals as quickly as we can, particularly in terms of the level of priority we give to them as they come in. What we hear from our HIQA inspections is that, at times, those referrals are not responded to in as timely a way as we would want to see happening consistently across the country.

A significant part of our reform programme, which has commenced, is around practice reform, which ultimately involves ensuring that when a referral is made to our services, our front door, which includes our social work, the diverse workforce and parts of our service such as the Tusla education support service, which was referred to earlier, can respond to it in the right way and at the right time. To reassure the Deputy, our high-priority and child protection referrals are responded to as a matter of priority. It is when we have particular referrals in regard to a low-harm situation or where a support role is required that there may be more of a delay in responding.