Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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164. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on the Health Information and Quality Authority report on services operated by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, in Fingal County; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28152/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Health Information and Quality Authority recently published its report on an inspection of the child welfare and protection services in the Dublin North administrative area of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. HIQA identified two areas of significant risk in the 27 standards examined: firstly, delays in assessments by dedicated social workers, and secondly, management of assessments of adults who were alleged to pose a risk to children. These risks largely arise from staffing shortages. They were brought to the attention of the area manager during the inspection and immediate action taken. The associated action plan has been accepted by HIQA and there are clear timelines for completion before the end of the year.

I am aware that some commentators have focused on references to delays in Tusla notifications to Gardaí in relation to allegations of physical and sexual abuse, and the impact this delay was having on Garda investigations. It is right that to be concerned about this. However, the inspection report indicates clearly that this issue had been resolved well before the report was published. Management level meetings had increased in frequency and had strengthened communication, leading to better management of cases. The HIQA inspection report goes on to reference positive results from a survey of Garda representatives regarding the response by Dublin North over the previous 12 months.

Tusla’s action plan indicates that it is redeploying staff to assist in handling high priority cases, and has commenced internal staff transfers to address staffing shortages. In addition, it is improving management of lower risk cases by rolling out training in Meitheal, so that families can be referred to family support services where it is appropriate to do so. Tusla is currently developing cultural competency training, with social workers on duty teams being prioritised for such training. Tusla is actively working to fill all social work vacancies, including posts with a particular focus on managing cases of retrospective child abuse.

As with previous reports, there were a number of positive findings. HIQA found that children at most serious risk of harm received a timely and effective service and there was excellent inter-agency collaboration, strong leadership and communication systems in the area. Good efforts are being made to deploy the limited resources available. Social workers advocated strongly for children in accessing specialist services and children’s rights were well respected. Other positives found within the service include strategies in place to safeguard and protect children from abuse and to promote their welfare.