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

I agree that ICT is critical to providing effective social work services for vulnerable children and families. Since its establishment in 2014, Tusla has been engaged in an extensive programme of reform which includes the ongoing development of an ICT system to support social workers in their work.

Currently, each of the 17 Tusla administrative areas has its own referral system. I want Tusla to move to the planned national child care information system, which will provide centralised referrals and ensure every social work department has a user-friendly technology solution to record the case history of every child who is the subject of a child protection or welfare concern.

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This will apply from the point of initial referral to case closure. The system will also have the capacity to facilitate the integration and sharing of information on child protection and welfare cases between Tusla areas. The capital provision available to Tusla in 2016 includes full provision for the 2016 costs associated with the continued roll-out of the national child care information system. The total expenditure on it is estimated at €1.8 million. The system has already been piloted in Tusla’s mid-west region - north Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. Tusla intends to roll out the system nationally over the coming year and I will continue to support it as a key priority.

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