Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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253. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she and her Department continue to identify children at risk while in direct provision or whose parents are undocumented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40411/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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As the Deputy is aware, the direct provision system is under the policy remit of my colleague the Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice and Equality. Children living in direct provision are not in the care of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Concerns about the welfare, safety or well-being of a child in direct provision are referred to Tusla, in line with Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children. Tusla has been working closely with the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of the Department of Justice and Equality.

The needs of children in direct provision relate to education, preschool, development and health and where needed, they will be referred to relevant services. Tusla provides services that offer advice and support to families in their parenting role. This includes family support workers, social workers, youth workers, family resource centres, support groups and counselling services.

The Child and Family Services Unit within RIA has a post for a seconded member of Tusla, and links are made to the HSE, GPs, Tusla and voluntary and community groups as necessary. The role of this Unit is to manage, deliver, coordinate, monitor and plan matters relating to the health and welfare of children and families living in the direct provision system.

Children are protected in a number of ways in the direct provision system - primarily through RIA’s child protection policy. Referrals include welfare concerns for a child when a parent is hospitalised and there is no family member to care for the child, ongoing parental illness, or parental mental health problems, while a smaller number relate to child protection concerns.

The Department of Justice and Equality established a working group to review a range of issues pertaining to asylum seekers and direct provision; the Report of the Working Group on the Protection Process was published in June 2015. The report identified that direct provision, while satisfactory as a support to families in the short term, was not an environment conducive to family life over the longer term. Tusla has been engaging with the HSE and RIA on progressing the recommendations from this report. Also the enactment of the International Protection Act, 2015 greatly simplifies the process for those entering direct provision, and aims to reduce the time spent there significantly.