Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this very important topic. I support Deputies Nulty and Shortall on the pension rights of the Waterford Crystal workers.

The recent independent inspection by HIQA of the HSE’s child protection services in my home constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny has highlighted serious flaws in the assessment of children at risk and the way they are treated. As this is the first in a series of reports on child care across the country, and if one takes Carlow-Kilkenny as an example, it makes for uncomfortable reading. What is worrying is that this report is the first of its type, following a series of damning reports that have consistently highlighted failures in child protection and the general welfare of our children.

It seems we are not learning the lessons of the past. To quote Ms Jennifer Gargan, who is the head of Empowering People in Care, EPIC, a support group for young people in care, "Yet again, there are lessons from the past that have not been learned, and recommendations which have not been put in place." To combat these problems, we must embrace reports such as this regardless of their findings. The question that comes to mind is how did these failures come to pass, especially when new standards, published last year, set out clear and concise requirements for the HSE and others working in this area.

The failure to implement set guidelines has proven to have severe ramifications for our younger citizens. It can lead to alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, social problems and a lot of other problems that manifest themselves well into adulthood. We have our own litany of tragic cases in which we failed our children, including terrible cases in Kilkenny and other parts of the south east, that have served to show what can happen to young people when the system fails them.

This report discovered evidence of children in Carlow-Kilkenny who were being placed at risk through the failure of social services to notify the Garda Síochána of cases in which abuse or neglect was suspected. The HIQA inspectors found that delays in sharing information were potentially hindering investigations carried out by the Garda. It was also found that some children who were believed to be at risk had records that were not updated and there were long waiting lists for investigations. The teams working in this area were not following the official guidelines on handling concerns about neglect and abuse. In total, none of the 27 national standards against which the services were inspected were fully met and nine of them were not met at all.

It would be remiss of me not to draw attention to the fact that the HIQA report also found that there were positives to be taken from the investigation. It was found that staff were providing a safe service and that the standards of assessments were good. Overall, the investigation found that services to children were safe and that many of the children and families who participated rated the service positively. If we can move forward with the positives and combat the negatives, we will be much closer to achieving our goal regarding children.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, who is out of the country.

Deputy Fitzgerald welcomes the findings from HIQA's first inspection against the national standards for the protection and welfare of children in the Carlow-Kilkenny local health area, HSE south region. In July 2010 the Government decided to prioritise the inspection of child protection by HIQA. These inspections are undertaken against standards developed by HIQA, as provided for by the Health Act 2007, and HIQA reports its findings to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The standards are designed to follow a child's journey from referral to the HSE child protection system to ensure the service the child receives is of good quality and that where necessary the child is protected. The national standards, which were a priority of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, were launched last July jointly by the Taoiseach and the Minister. In addition to following Children First, they introduce new standards for management in the use of resources, risk and quality systems and information regarding services.

The Minister was glad to see that, overall, services in Carlow-Kilkenny local health area were safe and were provided to children by a generally experienced and long-standing workforce. This is borne out by figures, produced by the HSE on a monthly basis, which show that 100% of children in care in this region have an allocated social worker and a care plan. The Carlow-Kilkenny local health area has a population of approximately 130,000, with both counties experiencing high population growth and immigration in recent years. The youth demographic for Carlow is higher than the national levels. There were 1,156 referrals to the child and family services child protection team between October 2011 and October 2012. Referrals that are not appropriate for the service are referred elsewhere. Child protection concerns are given priority. At the time of inspection there were 684 children in receipt of services. Some 78 assessments were ongoing, and 42 cases, including concerns regarding welfare issues, were awaiting assessment.

The recently published HIQA report stated that the services provided to children were safe and were provided by a well-experienced and long-standing workforce. The report shows that while social work relationships with other professionals, including the Garda, were good, and the quality of child protection and welfare assessments was satisfactory overall, there were inconsistencies and poor management of aspects of the duty system in parts of the area.

The Minister noted HIQA's finding that the HSE had not referred all cases of abuse and neglect to the Garda in a timely way and has asked officials in her Department to review with the Garda and the HSE matters related to the timing of the HSE's passing information of suspected abuse and neglect to the Garda.

The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, would like to stress that at no time were children put at risk by delay on the part of social workers in notifying the Garda of possible criminal neglect.

Overall, HIQA inspectors found that the local health area management system did not meet the new standards, including monitoring and risk systems. The report noted that managers were unable to identify trends across the two counties. Although the standards are recent, they are welcome and will set the bar for all areas to meet in order to provide better quality services for children and their families. Most important, inspectors who spoke to children said that they had achieved good outcomes following the child protection interventions by the social workers. They saw the role of the social worker as important in their lives. Inspectors were told by one child that without the input of the social worker the child would not have been able to attend secondary school and prepare for third level education.

Arising from the report's publication, an action plan, which includes 57 actions, has been prepared to address the issues identified. The Minister is glad to note that many of these recommendations have already been implemented. She is confident that Mr. Gordon Jeyes and his team will implement the remaining actions required to improve services in this crucial area. It should be noted that this is the first inspection undertaken following the publication of the standards and, while the report shows there is considerable room for improvement in the planning and reviewing of service, the Minster is encouraged to note that inspectors noted good practice by social workers and there was no finding or evidence in the report that a child had been negatively impacted by the HSE.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. She has addressed issues I, too, have addressed. Although I do not wish to overdramatise the results of the report, and I welcome its publication, it is very important that nobody runs away from this. Even though the report may make uncomfortable reading, it is very important that we take on board its findings. I understand it is the first of its kind and it serves to make us aware of the mammoth task we face, as legislators, as we attempt to combat child abuse and neglect. I am also mindful of the staff who provide services in this area, whose work has been approved in the report. It is essential that they be given the full support they need in fulfilling the very difficult work they do, which requires much expertise and tact. With the help of reports such as this, from HIQA and other agencies, we can try to secure a better and brighter future for the children who have to avail of these services.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I have been greatly impressed by the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, who has been so proactive not only in ensuring that very high standards are set by this State in terms of how we care for vulnerable children when they come to us to seek support and have their issues addressed, but also that we give them every possible chance of succeeding in life. It is important, first, that we set very high standards but second, and equally if not more important, that we ensure we have a sufficient and effective inspection regime in place to ensure those high standards are being met.

If this first inspection under the new regime shows anything it shows we now have that very robust and forensic inspection regime in place and that it produces results which can be acted upon immediately. It is very encouraging to see that the weaknesses which were identified in the Carlow-Kilkenny region are now being proactively addressed. One hopes that as similar inspections roll out nationally they will be equally proactive in addressing the shortcomings in service to these most vulnerable children.