Dáil debates

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

5:15 pm

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

48. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on children of homeless parents being put into care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7030/17]

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is good to see the Minister for Social Protection sitting beside the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, today. I wonder why that is. I am sure the Minister will join with me in expressing solidarity with the women and men who are on strike at Tesco. They work to prevent their kids from falling into poverty.

My question relates to the greatest fear that parents have of their children being taken into care. I am not referring to children at real risk, which I fully support. I am talking about people who are victims of the homelessness crisis. I have good reason to believe that this is happening and they are being forced to put their own children into care.

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Being homeless is distressing and stressful for children and adults alike. In the context of the Child Care Act 1991, my Department has policy responsibility for children under 18 years of age who present as "out of home" without their parent or guardian.

Children under the age of 16 who present as homeless without their parent or guardian are taken into care. Children aged 16 and 17 may be taken into care or provided with a service under section 5 of the Child Care Act 1991 which deals with accommodation for homeless children. Children who are homeless and in emergency accommodation are in the care of their parent or guardian. Notwithstanding the clearly challenging circumstances that families in emergency accommodation find themselves, I do not think that residing in emergency accommodation, in and of itself, should be the basis for taking children into care.

5 o’clock

Where there are no welfare or protection concerns, Tusla's role is to provide family support where this is required. Tusla has agreed a joint protocol with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive which covers child welfare protection matters for children in emergency accommodation. It is fully operational in the Dublin area and it is intended to roll it out across the State. It will be extended to Galway, Limerick and Cork this year.

My Department is working closely with Tusla to provide additional supports for families in emergency accommodation to mitigate the challenges faced by parents and children in this situation. Tusla is funding child support workers for this purpose and has also appointed a homelessness liaison officer. My Department is providing free child care for homeless children in the Dublin area for up to 25 hours a week. Ultimately, my concern is that we minimise and then eliminate the problem of homelessness. In the meantime, I will continue to support measures to help to the greatest degree possible those who are affected.

5:25 pm

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The inability to maintain stability and security is used as a euphemism for homelessness when taking the children of homeless parents into care. I am getting information that this is happening in three ways. Orders are being sought by social workers because children are often presenting as frequently ill due to the poor quality of emergency accommodation, lack of routine, bad food, etc. It is also the case that parents feel pressure to voluntarily place their children in care due to the nature of emergency accommodation with drug users and people with addiction issues nearby. Others have had their children forcibly removed as a result of problems stemming from their homeless situation. When I asked the parliamentary question on 31 January, it emerged, amazingly, that Tusla did not keep information on the number of children going into care as a result of homelessness. Tusla seems to keep a lot of information, but not on something like this. The head of Barnardos has said that parents are making the heartbreaking decision to leave their children in care because they are unable to secure appropriate accommodation. It is the biggest child welfare problem we have arising from the homelessness crisis, yet Tusla does not keep any information on the number of parents landing in this situation.

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Coppinger for setting out the ways in which she has information on her concern that somehow children of homeless parents are entering into a route of care. This not my understanding of how children come into care or from a statutory perspective how they should come into care. I have listened to what Deputy Coppinger has said and I will certainly take it into account and bring it back to my Department and Tusla. Why do children come into care? It is for a wide range of reasons. Deputy Coppinger is identifying some additional ones which we need to investigate. I note what she is identifying there. Children come into care for a range of reasons, including the death of a parent, the serious long-term illness of a parent or the significant ongoing mental illness of a parent. However, homelessness is not a reason to take children into care. The State only intervenes in family life in exceptional cases. Homelessness as part of a family group is not, in and of itself, a basis for seeking to receive a child into care.

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister give a commitment that Tusla will start to collect this information? How can we know it is not a problem if we do not have the data? It is unbelievable that there are no records on homeless children in care yet Tusla has records on people who give important information to the State. I raise the issue of the Minister's credibility on this. She gave a commitment to the people of Dublin South-West that she would not enter Government without a referendum. She went into Government. She wore a repeal jumper, but would not vote for a repeal Bill. Now, she tells us that she did not think it was significant that Tusla had terrible information about a whistleblower or that the Cabinet should know it. Who can believe a solitary single thing she says at this stage? I question that.

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

If there is a child protection concern, Tusla will investigate. The immediate safety of the child is the social work department's first consideration. A social work assessment is child centred and considers individual and family needs and takes into account the child's development needs, parenting capacity, family and environmental factors. I will certainly raise the issue of the collection of data which the Deputy requests I raise with Tusla. I will come back to her directly on that when I have had discussions with the agency.

In terms of the commitment to children in the context of emergency accommodation and homelessness, the plan Rebuilding Ireland commits to the identification of young people leaving State care who are at risk of homelessness and to catering for them through appropriate housing and other needs supports. The provision of accommodation for young people leaving State care is now eligible for funding under the capital assistance scheme operated by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. That Department and mine are working in conjunction with voluntary bodies to begin to plan for the ways in which we can develop additional housing for those young people who are leaving State care.