Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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894. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she is satisfied that the alert facilities to identify children at risk continue to be adequate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24049/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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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. Social work duty teams keep high priority cases under review by regularly checking to ascertain risk to the child, and where necessary will reprioritise the case.

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. Children First sets out the roles and responsibilities for all citizens to report child welfare and protection issues to Tusla, and where criminal matters are involved, the Gardaí. The majority of referrals received by Tusla are from Gardaí, HSE or Tusla officers, family members, schools and voluntary agencies. In 2015 there were 25,361 child welfare concerns and 18,235 child protection concerns received by Tusla. Referrals are made to the local Tusla office. Referrals about a child can come from a number of sources so there are some duplicates in the referral figures. Some referrals will be more appropriate for universal services, such as those provided in the community or health sectors.

Each referral received by the Agency is assessed and dealt with on an individual basis by the relevant social work team. Screening and preliminary enquiries are aimed at establishing the appropriateness of the referral to Tusla services and, if necessary, a preliminary enquiry is followed by an initial assessment of the concern. This will 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.