Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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7. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on the recent report by the Health Information and Quality Authority into services provided by Tusla - Child and Family Agency - in County Cork, which saw 234 high risk children still waiting to be allocated a social worker; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14401/15]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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In the aftermath of the Ryan report and the appalling history of this State in terms of the history of child abuse and the failure to protect children, Tusla was set up with a great stated commitment to child protection. The HIQA report on just one administrative area details a chronic failure to adequately protect children in need of support and particularly 234 high priority cases who have not even been allocated a social worker and another 500 medium priority cases who have not been allocated a social worker. I ask the Minister to provide the figures but if this is replicated at national level that represents a chronic failure on the part of Tusla to provide the child protection services that the children need.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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We touched on this matter when dealing with Deputy McLellan's question. I mean no disrespect to Deputy Boyd Barrett but Deputy McLellan asked whether I believed that child care services were worse under Tusla than they had been under the HSE.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I heard the answer.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I state categorically that they are far improved and continue to improve.

The inspection of the Cork child protection services was carried out by HIQA in October 2014. Overall, the report noted the good quality of the service provided to children and families when they had an allocated social worker. Two areas of significant risk were found and were addressed immediately. An action plan to address the remaining findings has been put in place.

Where a child does not have an allocated social worker assigned to his or her case there is a system of oversight by social workers to ensure that any change in the child's circumstances is addressed. It is important to note that high priority should not simply be equated with risk. For instance, children in care for less than six months who do not have an allocated social worker but who are in stable placements are included in this category. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has informed HIQA that all children identified during the inspection as having complex and acute needs were assigned a social worker at that time.

I am happy to say that there has been downward trend in the numbers waiting to be allocated a social worker. At a national level Tusla reports show an almost 50% reduction of high priority cases awaiting allocation for less than three months in 2014. This has been achieved at the current level of resources and staffing. To improve this further, the agency is carrying out a review of cases waiting for the allocation of a social worker to determine the level of resources required. I am aware that Tusla is pressing to fill its social work vacancies which will improve the effectiveness of the services being provided. Tusla has informed me that at the end of February 2015, there were 159.75 whole time equivalent social workers and 15 agency social workers, giving a total of 174.75 social workers in the Cork area. This represents approximately 50% of all social workers in the south region. It is one of my key priorities to ensure their workforce development plan addresses both current and future service needs for our most vulnerable children.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The somewhat rosy picture painted by the Minister of an improving situation does not reflect the language in the report, which stated that the service was not sufficiently resourced to deliver a child centred, safe and effective service that met the needs of children and families. It further stated that there were long waiting lists at point of receipt of referral and following the completion of the initial assessment. It found that staffing numbers were not sufficient to cope with the level of demand for the service and that some offices were in poor condition and not a suitable place for children and families to meet their social worker.

This is a damning statement. I refer to the two categories where the report identified significant risk. The Minister said earlier that children who were high priority or at significant risk would be dealt with immediately. However, the report identified significant risk with regard to the specific circumstances and needs of children subjected to organisational and-or institutional abuse and how children who are deemed to be especially vulnerable are identified and responded to. In that category the report finds a significant risk identified. That is in one administrative area and it is damning. Can the Minister tell the House what are the similar figures and breakdown for the country as a whole? If it is as bad as Cork it is not a rosy picture.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I supplied those figures in reply to the earlier question. High priority does not constitute immediate risk.

I made that clear in response to the previous question also. Any child who is in immediate danger or at immediate risk is seen as an emergency and is seen immediately. That is the reality. As I read out in the response, the category of "high priority" also includes children who are in care in a stable placement but who have not yet been allocated a social worker. That is not an ideal situation and I do not by any means wish to imply that it is, but I wish to provide clarity to those who might be worried that there are children in this country who are in immediate danger, who have not been seen by a social worker because that is simply not the case. Anytime a child becomes a cause of immediate concern the problem is dealt with immediately as an emergency.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I simply point out to the Minister that in the category of the HIQA report where significant risk is identified, it is precisely in the area of children who are particularly vulnerable and who have been subjected to organisational and-or institutional abuse. That is what the report says. That is pretty worrying. If those figures are replicated in the other 16 administrative areas of the country, that indicates an adequate service is not being provided to thousands of children at significant risk.

I wonder how all this relates to the crisis in child mental health services for which the Children's Alliance gave the Government an E grade - a fail grade - in its recent report, due to lack of beds, resources and staff, which seem to be evident in both of those areas. When I tabled questions on child mental health services to the Department they were transferred to the Department of Health. I have tried to raise the matter as a Topical Issue debate. I submitted the matter approximately 25 times in recent months. I believe the relevant Departments do not want to talk about the issue. There may well be a connection between the allocation of a social worker and child mental health services. If children initially identified as needing support do not have a social worker allocated, how many of them end up with mental health problems and then face the inadequate crisis ridden situation in the child mental health services? One cannot get answers about the area.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate what I said in response to the earlier question from Deputy McLellan, 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 Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, report for the Cork area may have given the impression that these most vulnerable children known to Tusla were not being cared for, but that is not the case. The children were described by some as having been abandoned, beaten or sexually abused. That is not the case. The point cannot be repeated often enough. That is not to say there is no need for huge improvements in the area, and more investment, but as I said previously to Deputy Healy, we wish to ensure that the money we spend now and in the future will result in the best outcome for children. That is the reason an interdepartmental group has been set up to examine child care and why Tusla is doing further work on those who do not have an allocated social worker to ensure that the required resources can be identified and that we can apply for them.