Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

286. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the cost of providing a 24 hour-seven day emergency access to social workers in all service areas, including in areas where this access is not available, by sub-county basis. [4217/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency provides a range of services aimed at addressing emergency situations in the area of child welfare and protection. In the main, these emergency situations arise out of hours.

The out-of-hours service provides access to a Child and Family Agency Social Worker and the placement of children removed by An Garda Síochána under the Child Care Act, 1991. The total cost of providing out-of-hours services is approximately €3.147m per annum. This figure will vary from year to year as out-of-hours services are demand led. Out-of-hours services are currently provided in all counties under the following arrangements:

- The Crisis Intervention Service (CIS) provides an out-of-hours emergency social work service to young people aged 0-17 years who are in crisis and reside in Counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. The total cost of this service in 2015 was €1.546m.

- The Cork Out-of-Hours Service provides an emergency social work service to young people aged 0-17 years in crisis who reside in the Cork North Lee and Cork South Lee areas. The total cost of this service in 2015 was approximately €280,000.

- The new Emergency Out-of-Hours Social Work Service which commenced last November covers areas outside of Counties Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Cork city. This service allows An Garda Síochána to contact a national emergency social work out-of-hours phone service for general advice or consultation. This on call service is staffed by social workers operating from the out-of-hours service in Dublin, supported by on-call social workers in different parts of the country. The social workers providing this service are employed by Tusla. The estimated full year cost of this service is €1.321m.

The aim of Emergency Out-of-Hours Social Work Services is to ensure that the disruption and upset to which children may be exposed in emergency situations is minimised and the rights of parents and guardians are respected.