Seanad debates

Thursday, 25 January 2018

Mandatory Reporting: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paul GavanPaul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister will know, Sinn Féin has long supported the introduction of legislation on the mandatory reporting of child protection concerns. Our concern is related to the ability of Tusla to effectively follow up and investigate complaints. This is the dual concern that Tusla not only does not have the resources or staff numbers but that it also has a poor record in handling cases brought to its attention, which means there is already a lack of confidence in the agency among the wider public. Sinn Féin believes the overall way Tusla operates has failed to earn the confidence of the public and that serious and demonstrable improvements are needed within the agency over the coming months.

The charity One in Four, which professionally supports adults sexually abused in childhood and operates a sex offender intervention programme, has said it is extremely worried that dangerous sex offenders may be continuing to abuse children, even though it has alerted the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, to allegations against them. The service has urged the Government to significantly improve the resourcing of the agency's child protection teams to enable them to deal with notifications nationwide.

I have a background in a trade union movement. I have been speaking to my contacts. I am not saying this to make a political point but saying it out of genuine concern. I am hearing that there continues to be a major crisis with regard to the staffing of Tusla. I hear the turnover rate is absolutely frightening, which in turn is making it almost impossible for the staff in place to provide a service at the level needed and that we all want to see. I welcome the additional funding for staffing but want to raise as a real concern what I have heard, namely, that there is a real crisis in the agency and that it is deepening. I would be interested in hearing the Minister's comments in that regard.

One in Four's 2016 annual report states most of its child protection notifications to Tusla are deemed unfounded. Last year, it sent Tusla 91 notifications based on what it calls clients' "very serious allegations ... about experiences of child sexual abuse". Although 12 clients made full statements to social workers, the report says eight of their cases were either not investigated or deemed "unfounded" by Tusla. The charity says the agency is still investigating three cases but that only one has been validated, meaning that only one of the many accused is now being monitored. One in Four said: "The father who abused his children may now be abusing his grandchildren: the teacher who abused one generation may now be abusing the next." We support a robust system but one instance where a sexual abuse allegation is not investigated thoroughly is one instance too many.

An investigation by the Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, into how a number of allegations of child abuse by adults were handled found a litany of failings. The investigation, published in July, revealed long delays in dealing with allegations of abuse; the rights of some people who were accused of abuse were breached; Tusla failed to follow its own procedures when keeping social work records; some social workers lacked empathy; and confidential communications were sent to an incorrect address. The Ombudsman said:

My investigation has found that in some cases there have been serious failings in how Tusla carries out its role. However, Tusla has accepted the findings in my report. It has agreed to implement the recommendations which are aimed at improving Tusla's procedures. Tusla has already started to implement some recommendations and I will closely monitor how they are being implemented.

While we very much welcome the action the Minister is taking, can she outline the structural reforms that Tusla intends to carry out in 2018? Does she believe that Tusla will be operating on a satisfactory basis in regard to mandatory reporting by the end of 2018, now that the Children First Act 2015 has been fully commenced?

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