Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue. I also welcome the Minister.

Tusla is a very important organisation and the investigation into its work is carried out independently by HIQA which verifies its capacity to "promote the welfare of children and protect those deemed to be at risk of harm". These children need a proactive service which acts decisively to assess and meet their needs in order to promote their safety and welfare. When HIQA inspected the child protection services and the welfare of children in the Meath and Louth area, it found that, of the 27 standards assessed, the services met only one and that significant improvements were needed in the case of at least eight others.

That is entirely unacceptable. Tusla is a well resourced organisation, with a working budget of more than €600 million and over 4,000 staff. In light of the poor outcome of the inspections, I ask the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to meet with Tusla urgently to address the issues arising.

The inspection identified significant risks resulting from ineffective and unsafe information systems, inconsistent allocation of social workers to children on the child protection and notification system and inadequate and unsafe systems to review, monitor and manage waiting lists across the service. According to a working document I have in my possession, HIQA is satisfied that an action plan is now in place but it found that while staff in the centre valued the safety of children and endeavoured to keep children safe and meet their needs, this was not always possible. Aspects of the service were unsafe and although children's cases were prioritised for social worker intervention, this did not always ensure that children who were at greatest risk and had highest levels of need received a timely service. The capacity of the service to meet the needs of all children was compromised by delays in allocating social workers. I am particularly concerned by the finding that unsafe or ineffective systems were in place to assess and manage actual or potential risks to children from adults living in the community. This meant risks to some children went unidentified and unmanaged. I ask the Minister to clarify these matters because it is unacceptable to read such findings in this day and age, given the significant investment we have made in the care and welfare of children.

There is no shortage of money or staff in Tusla. Although the inspectors acknowledged the impact of limited resources, service managers did not always demonstrate the level of leadership required to deliver an effective service. I was unhappy with answers I received to parliamentary questions on this issue, although I accept the Minister is not to blame because my questions were addressed by Tusla. However, when I contacted Tusla to speak with an official in the section responsible for parliamentary questions I was told there was no such section.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising the issue of Tusla's child protection and welfare services in the Louth-Meath area and I welcome the opportunity to address his concerns. The inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, reported concerns the standard of services being provided to children and families in the area. This is a significant cause of concern to me, my staff and Tusla. As Deputy O'Dowd pointed out, HIQA's findings are stark. This demonstrates the real importance of having an independent regulatory regime. I assure the Deputy that of the 46 actions arising from significant risks, 22 have now been addressed and a further 24 will all be completed within dedicated time-frames. Steps have been taken to ensure all children on the child protection notification system are allocated a social worker and improvements made to record keeping and data collection. I was glad to see that HIQA found that all cases where children at immediate risk of harm at the point of referral were responded to in a timely manner, although I also noted that in some cases there were waiting periods for a dedicated social work service.

HIQA was satisfied with the action plan to address the significant risks that were identified. Half of the 101 actions required are now complete and HIQA and officials in my Department will monitor progress to ensure the improvements required are made. Issues were highlighted regarding resources and staffing in counties Louth and Meath, and these are being addressed at national level as a matter of urgency. Officials from my Department are already engaging with Tusla on resources for the remainder of 2015 and into 2016. A submission on staffing and other resource issues is to be made in the near future.

It has to be said that resources were not the only issue, however. Other deficits in the local service arose from systems either not being implemented well or not implemented fully. This led to concerns being expressed about the prioritisation of cases, the processing of complaints and management level information on cases. Tusla notified me on the problems in the services prior to the publication of HIQA's report and it has taken direct ownership of action to improve the standards of service delivery. The area is under a special programme of improvement led directly by the chief operations officer to address oversight and quality assurance. A project social work team is in place to deal with the backlog and to assist with the implementation of national guidance and practice for the duration of the special programme. The longer term issues and overall consistency of service delivery are being addressed by work at national level on policy and quality assurance.

It is worth noting that the inspection findings were not all about deficiencies. Many children were found to have benefitted from the service and there was evidence of good practice and excellent interagency collaboration. Good practice with children and families was observed by inspectors, who also found that many neglect cases were well managed by social workers and children's lives had improved from social work and family support intervention. The issue of completing initial assessments is dealt with in the report which states that the majority were of good quality, based on detailed information from key sources and including the clearly expressed views of children. A minority of assessments were not of such good quality. Difficulties were identified regarding signing off and closing assessments. I understand Tusla is examining timeframes to better reflect the activity and dynamic nature of assessments overall.

The issues identified by HIQA are of a concern to us all. I have asked to be kept informed on progress. A recurring theme overall in recent HIQA inspections is that social services are generally of a good standard but there are problems with the timeliness of the service. This is a particular challenge as the demands on the service increase. As a relatively recent national organisation, the challenge for Tusla is to provide a consistent response to identified need based on good quality assurance data and appropriate resources. Reforms on how the service is organised nationally are taking effect. I am committed to ensuring the reforms underpin a service that delivers a responsive and safe child welfare and protection service for the children and families of not only of counties Louth and Meath but the entire country.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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While I welcome the Minister's assurance, these are the most vulnerable children in our communities and the findings of the inspection are unacceptable. The Louth-Meath area, which I represent, is one of the most deprived areas of the country. The unemployment rate and proportion of one parent families are above the national average. Unsafe and ineffective systems were in place to manage risks to children from adults of concern and this meant that risks to some children went unidentified and unmanaged. I am deeply concerned by this finding.

When I initially raised this issue by way of parliamentary questions after reading newspaper reports on this issue on 8 June, I was frustrated in getting a reply. When I contacted Tusla I was told nobody had responsibility for dealing with my questions. Last Friday I tried to insist on having somebody addressing the issues because the report was on the website.

However, there was nobody in Tusla to deal with the issues. Eventually the chief operations officer, Mr. Fred McBride, did speak to me and we had a conversation for about 20 minutes on the issues I raised. I acknowledge that he has taken direct line responsibility for the changes that are taking place.

I must express my deep concern again, however, and I ask the Minister to facilitate a meeting with me on this issue. I intend to meet with Tusla about it as well. With all the investment and resources, and all the concerns we have expressed in the Oireachtas, as well as public concern, it is not acceptable or good enough. We need much better outcomes than these, so I hope that will change radically.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate the point made by the Deputy that these are indeed very vulnerable children. Tusla has taken this issue very seriously indeed, so much so that the chief operations officer himself, Mr. Fred McBride, has taken direct control, as the Deputy acknowledged.

As regards the whole issue, many lessons have been learned from the Laois-Offaly situation and a similar approach has been taken here in terms of bringing in additional resources to address the backlog of cases. That will ensure a uniformity of approach so that protocols are implemented in full and we have a safe service for these most vulnerable children.

There is no question but that, as a new organisation, Tusla faces some of the challenges faced by the HSE from which it sprang, including ensuring a uniformity of approach across the service. It is also ensuring that frontline staff, in the main social workers in this case, have the necessary supports they need in information technology. A business case has been put to us concerning that as well.

Without any shadow of doubt, serious problems have been identified in this report. The plan put forward by Tusla to deal with these deficiencies has been accepted by HIQA and that plan is on track to deliver within defined timeframes.

As regards the Deputy's failure to get answers to his questions until he managed to reach the chief operations officer, this is something I will have to inquire into further. I do not believe that is satisfactory. Public representatives should be able to obtain full information in situations like these, in order to address concerns and reassure their constituents.