Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, Tusla, Child and Family Agency, is the statutory body with responsibility for child protection and welfare services. If I or my officials become aware of a situation in which a child is considered to be at risk, that concern is communicated to Tusla as a matter of urgency.

The Children First Act 2015 places a number of statutory obligations on specific groups of professionals and particular organisations providing services to children. The Children First guidance 2017 includes information on the statutory obligations for those individuals and organisations under Act. It also sets out the best practice procedures that should be in place for all organisations providing services to children.

Under the Act, mandated persons are required to report child protection concerns at or above a defined threshold to Tusla. Mandated persons are people who have contact with children and families and who, because of their qualifications, training or employment role, are in a key position to help protect children from harm. Organisations classed as providers of relevant services under the Act are required to undertake a risk assessment and develop a child safeguarding statement setting out the procedures in place to manage any risk identified.

The Children First Act operates side by side with the non-statutory obligation provided for in Children First, the national guidance for the protection and welfare of children. The guidance sets out how reports about reasonable concerns of child abuse or neglect should be made by the public and professionals to Tusla and what organisations need to do to keep children safe.

If a child appears to be at risk of harm or neglect, concerns should be reported to Tusla. Anyone can report concerns about a child to Tusla, and information on how to do so is available on its website. If a child is at immediate risk or danger, An Garda Síochána should be alerted without delay

Tusla acts urgently on notification of an immediate risk to a child.

Children who are at immediate risk may be dealt with initially by An Garda Síochána or Tusla but, in the main, both agencies work together on such cases. Tusla has an out-of-hours emergency number that provides advice to An Garda Síochána based on the circumstances and can identify where a child is listed on the child protection notification system. A 24-7 out-of-hours social work team is available in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Cork, and on-call social workers are available in other areas. Tusla has a network of emergency foster care placements for children in need of emergency care out of hours.

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