Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her presence. I acknowledge and thank her for her work in this area to date. Fianna Fáil welcomes any change that increases child protection. We support the introduction of mandatory reporting, but it must be backed up by training and resources, a key issue to which the Minister alluded.

Under the mandatory reporting requirements of the Act, mandated reporters are persons who, by virtue of their training, responsibilities and experience, should have an awareness of issues relating to child protection. These professionals either work with children or young people, or are in a service sector that encounters adults or families and children where there is a risk of abuse and neglect. Mandated persons must report to Tusla if they believe or have reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is being harmed, has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed.

While I welcome the introduction of mandatory reporting, I must raise some concerns. Various experts, not least Mr. Fred McBride, the Tusla CEO, have raised concerns about the resource implications of mandatory reporting. Resourcing has been and remains an issue at Tusla. Chronic lack of staff has left the agency struggling to meet our children's needs. Mandatory reporting could increase the number of referrals to Tusla by an estimated 150%. I know the Minister has given some preliminary figures that would contradict that, but it is very early days.

To add another layer on top of this already embattled service, albeit with the best of intentions, would be short-sighted and detrimental in the long run. In October 2017, there were 5,212 children awaiting the allocation of a social worker. Of these, 752 are designated as high priority. It is very unfortunate that when it comes to our health sector, priority does not mean immediate or urgent assistance. The resourcing issues at Tusla are both financial and recruitment matters. Despite asserting that it would need an additional €38 million for the introduction of mandatory reporting alone, the 2018 budget falls well short and expects more to be done for less.

In recent years Tusla has struggled to recruit and retain social workers. As with our graduate nurses, GPs and teachers, approximately 250 social workers graduate in Ireland every year and a high percentage of these take up employment abroad with other agencies. As a result, Tusla has struggled to manage its existing workload and has been forced to outsource a number of foster care placements to private agencies.

The idea of having statements here in the Seanad is very welcome and as I said at the outset, I very much welcome the Minister's work in this regard. It gives us an opportunity to voice our concerns so that we can flag issues such as the ones I have outlined in the hope that they might be addressed. I ask her to take these on board and I hope she will continue her good work with Tusla and its CEO, Mr. Fred McBride.

Critically the Minister's aspirations and those of her Department must be backed up by adequate resources. It is the least our children deserve. If we fail in this, we will fail our children.