Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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27. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has warned the Government, in an unpublished briefing document, of serious risks to children in child protection services due to pressure placed on underfunded services, as outlined by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (details supplied); and the action he is taking to respond to this underfunding. [35532/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Earlier this year I requested Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to undertake a national audit in order to quantify and verify the number of cases awaiting allocation to a social worker. The findings of the audit were recently brought to the attention of my colleagues at Cabinet Sub-Committee level and were also the subject of particular discussion with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over recent months.

The resolution of this issue has been a key focus of my attention. Unallocated child welfare and protection cases represent a quantifiable symptom of the demands on Tusla.

As of July 2015, there were a total of 7,209 children who did not have an allocated social worker (this includes children in care). Of these 1,557 cases were classed as high priority. As of July this year 7% of all children in care did not have a dedicated social worker allocated to their case. This is not acceptable to me.

The Deputy will understand that a programme of this size requires careful management and Tusla presented a three year plan to deal with this long-running issue.

In order to address this issue, I am increasing the allocation to Tusla by some €38 million next year. This will allow for the targeting of funding by Tusla at addressing the high number of cases awaiting social worker allocation. This targeted funding will allow Tusla to recruit the extra social workers and associated staff needed to respond to this issue. Tusla will be extending its current programme of recruitment throughout 2016 to support this process.

I am satisfied that the increased level of funding approved will significantly strengthen Tusla's base funding level and give the Agency greater capacity to respond to identified need and anticipated demand.

I will be closely monitoring the work of Tusla in addressing any area of identified risk in 2016 and in ensuring that our children are kept safe and protected.