Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the actions taken to urgently address the substandard and inadequate provision of care to minors, in view of the recent report by the Health Information and Quality Authority which revealed shocking findings from a full inspection of services in County Cork in October 2014, where children have been waiting years to be allocated a social worker and are accordingly at risk. [14710/15]

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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What actions have been taken to urgently address the issue of substandard and inadequate provision of care for minors in light of the recent HIQA report which revealed shocking findings from a full inspection of services in County Cork in October 2014, where children have been waiting years to be allocated a social worker, putting those children at risk?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy and the House that all children who are known to be at immediate and urgent risk are seen immediately and have a social worker assigned to them by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Comments about the HIQA report for the Cork area may have given the impression that these most vulnerable children known to Tusla were not being cared for. The children were described by some as having been abandoned, beaten or sexually abused. I am reliably informed that this is not the case.

The HIQA inspection report found a number of positives and noted the good quality of the service provided to children and families when they had an allocated social worker. The report stated that the service had clear lines of accountability. Managers and social workers used standard business processes, together with the national guidelines in Children First, to deliver a consistent service with clear oversight.

I am concerned that there were two findings that were classed as "significant risk" but I am able to report that these were addressed immediately. The action plan published with the inspection report stated that the 21 children who were identified as having complex problems had all been allocated a social worker in the course of the inspection. Risk management and monitoring by the duty social work team ensures that any change in a child’s circumstances are dealt with during a period when a child is waiting for the allocation of a social worker.

Improvements in the delivery of Tusla's resources and the efficient management of case loads are key priorities. Tusla is reviewing the cases awaiting allocation of a social worker to decide how best to meet existing and future service demands. Nationally, the list of high priority cases awaiting allocation for less than three months has decreased by almost 50% in 2014. In Cork alone, the total number of cases awaiting allocation has dropped by over a quarter in 2014, including a significant decrease of 66% in those listed as high priority. I am pleased to see the progress being made in this critical area since Tusla's establishment.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I have raised the issue of substandard and inadequate provision of care for minors with the Minister on many occasions, both in committees and in this Chamber. I have specifically highlighted issues pertaining to my constituency in Cork. The Minister has rightly agreed that the situation regarding lack of staff and social workers and the knock-on effects of lack of care, such as drugs paraphernalia being found in some homes, was hugely concerning.

The HIQA report released last month revealed even more shocking findings following a full inspection of services in the county in October of last year. The review of child protection and welfare services in County Cork by HIQA found that children were at significant risk as a result of failures by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. It is widely known that children in the county have been waiting years to be allocated a social worker. Some cases involve children with highly complex and acute needs. Will the Minister give an update on the increase in the number of social workers for minors in Cork since our last conversation about the issue? What progress has been made, particularly for those assessed as being at high risk?

The Minister had previously stated that there was a process of recruitment under way in the UK due to a shortage of staff in Ireland. Will the Minister give an update on the type of personnel recruited and how many have been placed? Is this recruitment drive serving its purpose?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Deputy McLellan has asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer some of them. The number of cases of children awaiting allocation of a social worker has decreased over 2014.

Tusla's figures for Cork indicate a decrease of 26% in the overall number and, in the number of high-priority cases, a decrease of two thirds. The source for this is "Measuring the Pressure". However, people are still waiting, and we will continue to endeavour over the coming months to ensure that this does not remain the case.

The Deputy asked about the recruitment process. Many initiatives are under way to address the issue of our social worker complement. We are actively recruiting 218 this year. I do not have a further update for the Deputy but if I get it I will pass it on to her.

Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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We know from the authority's report that, of the 27 standards assessed, Tusla's service met six, required improvement in 19 and significant risks were identified in respect of two. The report found that the effectiveness of the service was compromised due to the length of time it took for social workers to be allocated to assess the needs of children and families, meaning that children could remain at risk while they waited. It also found that the longest a child had been waiting for a social worker to be allocated was since 2010, whereas most of the others had been waiting since 2013. Of the almost 5,000 cases referred to Tusla in Cork, more than 1,000 had no allocated social workers, including the 234 deemed high priority. Where retrospective allegations of abuse were made against adults, Tusla failed to establish the risks to all children who may have been in contact with those adults.

Is it the case that children are worse off under Tusla than under the HSE? Does the Minister agree that the Child and Family Agency, which is facing a funding crisis, will continue to reveal such findings until the lack of resources is adequately addressed? Will it be addressed in budget 2015?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I reject the assertion that Tusla is in any financial crisis. It is a new agency and received a substantially increased budget this year. As it develops, we will undoubtedly see where there is a need for further resources. It is undertaking work to measure this and to determine where best to put those resources.

Regarding high-priority cases, these are not children at immediate risk. Any child at immediate risk is treated as an emergency and seen immediately. To put this in perspective, if a teacher in a classroom this morning is worried about a child in that class, there will be a social worker there before the child goes home this evening. That is the nature of the service that Tusla delivers. High-priority cases include a range of situations, some of which relate to children who are in care and stable environments but have not been allocated social workers. We would prefer it if they had social workers, but they are not in any immediate risk or danger. We want to minimise risk and would like to see no child at risk where possible.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Healy is not present, so we will move on to Question No. 4.