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

I wish to begin by joining the Chair of the committee, Deputy Farrell, in acknowledging the shocking and disturbing child sexual abuse case related by a recent RTÉ programme. Three young girls who were in foster care and who should have been safe and protected from harm were horribly abused by the teenage son of their foster parents. Their trust was betrayed. It is essential for the victims and wider society that we establish the full facts and circumstances of that case and learn from it. To that end, this harrowing case was referred in April 2016 to the national review panel for investigation and that process is nearing completion. I updated the Taoiseach on that process this morning.

I thank Deputy Farrell and all members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs for the timely and topical report on the provision of foster care services in Ireland. The hearings of the committee provided a forum for those involved in foster care provision to highlight achievement and identify gaps in the system. I provided a detailed response to the issues raised in the report following its publication and am happy to update the House on progress since then.

In February of this year, 6,161 children could not, for a variety of reasons, live with their parents and were in the care of the State. I am proud that the vast majority of those children, 92%, live in family environments and are cared for by foster carers dedicated to their well-being. We have been at that level for several years. As indicated in my response when the report was published, improvement is needed in several key areas. I am happy to state that progress has been made in some such areas, while there are significant challenges to overcome in others.

I cannot address all the recommendations of the committee here, but I wish to address some of the more significant ones and update the House in that regard. One encouraging and significant development since the publication of the report is the appointment of a dedicated national social work manager from Tusla to work with the Garda. I understand that An Garda Síochána is in the process of establishing child protection units in each of its divisions which will provide a structure for joint working in that sensitive area. The co-location of a social work manager with the Garda is intended to strengthen inter-agency collaboration, build relationships and data sharing and mitigate against the risks posed by the gaps in the emergency out of hours service. Progress on the provision of emergency out of hours service to all areas of the country is ongoing. A 24 hour emergency phone service which provides social work consultation to the Garda is available in all areas. A 24 hour social work service is currently in operation in Cork and the greater Dublin region, where it provides services to Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. When fully operational later this year, a range of social work supports will be available and consultation and advice will be offered to An Garda Síochána. Most importantly, the service will provide a 24-7 telephone social work support service for foster carers.

As the Chairman stated, the committee was also concerned with costs and governance of the private foster care sector. A relatively small number of the children are placed with private foster carers. The latest available data relate to February this year and show that there are 390 children in private foster care placements out of a total of 5,683 children in foster care. Information from Tusla tells us that the children in care are in stable placements or as far as possible are being cared for in their local area, and the majority are in education. By and large, children in foster care do well and that is in large part due to the dedication of our foster carers.

I am aware of the criticisms of the governance and management structures, in particular of the foster care committees, that have emerged in recent Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, inspections. I agree that is not good enough and needs to be improved. The foster care committee’s role in approving foster carers, reviews, re-vetting and monitoring is essential. Tusla is taking steps to strengthen these committees and has put in place revised guidance for their operation. When HIQA representatives appeared before the committee they indicated that they would like to see increased powers to oversee Tusla’s role in foster care provision, something to which the Chairman referred in his remarks. That would most likely build on the existing regulations. My Department is in correspondence with HIQA to gain an insight into the scope of those changes, and I will keep the House informed of the outcome of those discussions.

Children may be placed in private foster care for a number of reasons. It may be in an emergency situation or because they have particular needs that cannot be met by a general foster care placement, or there may not be a Tusla foster care placement available in their locality. I should point out that the costs associated with a private foster care placement are inclusive of costs that also apply to a statutory placement. These include the recruitment and assessment of potential foster carers, the cost of a link social worker for the foster carer and also training for foster carers. All of these are essential elements of both public and private placements. Ultimately, the key to reducing the number of private placements lies in the ability to recruit foster carers in appropriate locations and with the appropriate capacity to care for the children not currently fostered within the statutory provision.

I urge anyone who is thinking of fostering to contact their local Tusla office and explore the possibilities with them. All general foster carers are fully assessed, vetted and approved before a child is placed with them. The majority of foster carers have both a link social worker and the child’s social worker visiting regularly. In a small number of cases, there may be one social worker allocated for a placement. When a child in foster care does not have an allocated social worker or a foster carer does not have a link worker, measures are put in place to provide a social work service to both. The local duty social work team provide support to children in care and to foster carers. Children in foster care are prioritised to ensure that those in unstable placements, those about to enter aftercare or children who are in care less than six months are not left without social work support. At a local area level, the fostering teams respond to unallocated foster carers as issues or queries arise. These measures are not a substitute for allocated social workers to both child and the foster carer, but they do ensure that there is a social work service involved in each placement.

The committee was also concerned about the recommendations in Dr. Geoffrey Shannon’s audit report, particularly An Garda Síochána’s use of section 12, to which the Chairman referred. I receive regular updates on that in regard to the plan I drew up with Dr. Shannon, but one of the concerns raised in the audit report, which was also raised in the joint committee's report, was that vulnerable children are being returned repeatedly to the same circumstances. It was raised again here. The issue has been included in the research Tusla has commissioned into the handling of cases where a child came into Tusla’s custody following the use of section 12 by An Garda Síochána. I expect that research will bring clarity on the extent to which that is happening, and the circumstances in which it occurs.

The committee also called for improvements in the collation of comprehensive data on foster care services. I can assure the committee that my Department already receives a comprehensive range of data from Tusla on children in care, the types of care provided, including private placements, the number of children in care with written care plans, the number of referrals to child protection services, the allocation of social workers and the numbers waiting for allocation. Many of these data are published on the Tusla website and are freely available. My officials use the data to monitor significant changes and emerging monthly, quarterly and annual trends. I am confident that further improvement will be realised through the introduction and full implementation this year of the national child care information system. I had a management board meeting with my team earlier this morning and there is confirmation that Tusla is on target in regard to rolling this out. This will include a view of re-referrals of children and give a picturein terms of the children throughout the 17 areas. The system will provide my Department with more detailed reports about children in care, and bring greater clarity to the scale and impact of our care services.

There is much to do to ensure that we maintain the high quality of foster care placements to children needing the care and protection of the State. I welcome the work of the joint committee and I look forward to hearing the Deputies' comments on this very important issue, especially in light of the time that has passed since the committee published the still very relevant report.

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