Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, congratulate him on his new post and wish him well for the future. I wish to raise two specific issues, namely, missing children, an issue which has been raised by many Senators, and the serious understaffing of social workers in Galway city, which leads to serious child protection concerns.

Since 2000, some 441 children have gone missing, 338 of whom are still unaccounted for. Recently it was reported that five Kenyan children between the ages of 11 and 17 are still missing. I want the Minister of State to instigate an immediate review of security procedures at HSE care facilities and to find out what supervision and monitoring exists in these facilities. Where is the outrage with regard to these missing children? If we were in another country and this was mine or the Minister's child, we would want to know the issue was being addressed and that such cases were being followed up. We need an interdepartmental response on this issue.

In 2007 there were 1,586 new referrals for the Galway city area on child protection issues, some 50% of which related to non-national children. In other words, over 750 referrals related to non-national children. These referrals related to children as young as seven being left minding babies, many cases of physical chastisement and cramped living conditions in both homes and hostels. However, while 130 children were taken into care in the region in 2007, only ten of them were non-nationals. I find this curious. Is it the case that we do not give the same priority to non-national children?

Ireland is a civilised and humane nation, but the fact we do not follow up on missing children leads me to suspect that we do not give due attention to the protection of children of the non-national community. The child protection issues about which I am concerned are neglect of an emotional, physical and sexual nature and child welfare issues. I urge the Minister of State to follow up on this issue, with particular regard to the non-national community.

The main issue of concern I wish to raise is the issue of understaffing of social workers in Galway city. This area has a population of approximately 180,000 and includes Oranmore, Kinvara, Clarinbridge, Claregalway and Gort. This issue came to my attention a year ago when a mother came to me about her out of control teenager who was putting her two-year old child at serious risk in the home. The situation involved drug and alcohol abuse and physical violence. The mother in question was trying to survive as a single parent with a teenage son who was out of control. She asked me to intervene and get help from the social workers. I called the duty worker who gave me a hearing and led me to believe that the issue would be addressed immediately. Two weeks later, the mother contacted me to say there had been no intervention and the situation was still as bad as ever. I telephoned the social work department again, only to find out it had no staff to send out to examine the situation. This was the case one year ago.

To my horror, the situation is even worse today, which confirms the findings of "Prime Time Investigates". In the Galway city area we had 1,586 new referrals in 2007, but the waiting time for a child protection assessment is at least five to six weeks, unless it is a section 12 issue. A section 12 issue is an issue involving a case where a parent is being sent to prison. In that case the Garda contact social workers to take the children into care, which is done on that day. Unless a case is that serious, it is not dealt with on the day. The Minister of State stated in his speech that where there is a serious and immediate risk, there is an immediate response, but that is not true.

Two weeks ago, 50 case files in the Galway city area could not be opened because the social workers were not available to examine them. How, therefore, can one tell whether there is an immediate or serious risk? I have heard from a reliable source that some of those 50 cases are quite serious ones, but I cannot name my source because of the current culture within the HSE. I do not wish to start a witch hunt within the HSE, which happened previously when I received reliable information. Some 15 of the 50 cases mentioned had no prior assessment, making it incredibly difficult to assess their gravity.

I have learned that Galway city is understaffed by five social workers to meet the need that exists. I urge the Minister of State to address that need. Furthermore, two social workers who have gone on maternity leave since Christmas have not been replaced. Another social worker is on half-time, but no social worker has been employed to fill her half-time leave. This was not the case in the past, but as a result of cuts by the HSE and the embargo on recruitment things are getting worse. The job of child protection has become more difficult.

I have heard it said that children are suffering because of the lack of resources and of that there is no doubt. The Minister of State is new in the job and is full of hope and interest. Let him try and do something. I urge him to examine the situation in Galway city. A reliable source has confirmed to me that female social workers on maternity leave are not being replaced during their leave of absence. This was not always the case. If that situation continues under the existing work pressures, it is likely to lead to discrimination against young female social workers at interview and male social workers will appear more attractive. Human resource decisions are, therefore, becoming discriminatory as a result of cutbacks. This may not be intentional, but that is the outcome.

The situation with regard to social workers in the west is already uneven, with Sligo-Leitrim having six and a half staff per 10,000 population and Galway, with the worst ratio nationally, of two and a half social workers per 10,000 population. Child protection services are under serious strain and the children of Galway are suffering as a result. The social workers cannot cope with the caseload. Waiting times are five to six weeks. It is estimated that an additional five social workers are required to address the need.

I urge the Minister of State to identify the gaps in the service. Today, Senator Frances Fitzgerald asked him to identify the problems in the system. I have pointed out one of them. I urge the Minister of State to put the resources where the gaps are so that we get the best outcomes. He should not waste the money nor throw it willy nilly at the services. It must be put where the gaps are so that our children are protected.

I urge the Minister of State to address the issues of the missing children, particularly as related to non-nationals, and the lack of adequate social workers in Galway city. I presume I can give them the Minister's word that he will come back to them in Galway on that.