Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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1194. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the facilities available to protect children at risk; the number of referrals to the appropriate bodies recorded in the past two years; if she will make further provision if backlogs occur; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9439/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, holds the statutory responsibility for child welfare and protection, and is the appropriate body to receive reports of concerns relating to children at risk.

Each referral received by the Agency is assessed and dealt with on an individual basis by the relevant social work team. Preliminary screening is aimed at establishing the appropriateness of the referral to Tusla services and, if necessary, is followed by an initial assessment of the concern to determine the best course of action for the child and their family. Over half of all referrals received by Tusla are welfare concerns and Tusla's policy is to refer these to relevant family and community support services. At any stage, if a determination is made that there is abuse, whether physical, emotional, sexual or neglect, from which there is an ongoing risk of harm, the child protection pathway is followed. A social worker works with the parent/s to support them provide safe care for their child. In a minority of cases this may lead to the child being placed on the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) or the child being received into care. I wish to assure the Deputy that Tusla deals immediately with emergency cases, including for instance, if a child has been abandoned or is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse.

Figures for 2014 show that there were 24,954 child welfare concerns and 18,676 child protection concerns received by Tusla. Information on the number of referrals is available for the first nine months of 2015, with a total of 18,873 child welfare concerns and 13,730 child protection concerns received in that period. Referrals come from a number of sources so there are some duplicates in these totals, and some will be more appropriate for universal services, such as those provided in the community or health sectors.

An open case is one which is assessed as needing a dedicated (allocated) social work service. The priority or category of high, medium or low given to the case after a preliminary enquiry, is based on information received on the case. At the end of February 2016, a total of 20,262 open cases had an allocated social worker while 5,694 were waiting to be allocated a social worker. Of those awaiting allocation 902 were deemed to be High Priority. It is important to note that "High Priority" should not simply be equated with risk. These cases represent a mix of new referrals that need further assessment and social work input, as well as children known to Tusla who need a continuing social work service. The additional funding of €38 million which the Government has allocated to Tusla for 2016, will give the Agency greater capacity to respond to identified demand and to alleviate pressures being faced in areas such as unallocated cases.

In addition to services provided by Tusla and its own complaints mechanism where specific issues may be raised, the child welfare and protection services are overseen, inspected and regulated by independent bodies, the Ombudsman for Children and the Health Information and Quality Authority. CORU regulates health and social care professionals and deals with registration and complaints regarding social workers. My Department also maintains regular contact with a range of non-governmental bodies to consult on any particular areas of interest or concern that may arise in the sector.