Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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9. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will report on the review, due to be completed on 8 May 2015, of the 700 previously unidentified files which were found in an office in Portlaoise in County Laois at the end of April 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20494/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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At my first opportunity, I brought information to the Oireachtas on serious concerns that have been identified by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency in the Laois Offaly part of the Midlands area. As I mentioned earlier, I must give due regard to fair procedures for the individuals involved.

As part of the immediate actions, Tusla carried out an urgent review of the affected referrals out between the 5th and 8th of May. Measures are already underway to manage the referrals that were not processed as they should have been in Laois Offaly.

Tusla's analysis to date indicates that all of the referrals involved had been seen by the social work team. It shows that 90% of these had been received since 2012. Of all of the referrals involved, 11% required no further child welfare or protection actions. There was a recommendation for one in five of the referrals to be allocated for immediate assessment to identify whether the child concerned needed a response from the protection or family support services, or if the case could be closed. The remaining referrals were recommended to be dealt with by way of active management of risk while awaiting an initial assessment. Tusla has put in place the resources needed to progress all of these referrals, including those in need of immediate assessment.

Tusla has reported that only about half of the referrals showed evidence of review since the date of referral. In some cases there was evidence of steps being taken but that the recording of progress was not sufficient to formally progress or close the case.

At this stage, I have not been informed by Tusla of any children that were at immediate risk who did not receive an urgent response. I welcome the speedy and appropriate response by Tusla to put in place resources to implement the action plan. Tusla has in place a mechanism to monitor the action plan. I will have been receiving regular updates and will keep Deputies informed on this matter. I will meet with Tusla later today for a further update on progress.