Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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629. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average time taken to investigate cases of children at risk of the various forms of abuse; the degree to which a systemic response is in place to deal with such issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15457/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, 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.

There were 11,732 referrals to Tusla during Q3, 2016 which was (4%) fewer than Q2, 2016. 97% of referrals (Q3, 2016) had a preliminary enquiry carried out. Approximately 68% of preliminary enquiries were completed within 24 hours of receipt of the referral and 41% of referrals required an initial assessment.

Each referral received by Tusla is assessed and dealt with on an individual basis by the relevant social work team. Approximately 60% of referrals to Tusla are of a child welfare concern with the remaining 40% related to child protection concerns. Tusla's policy is to refer child welfare referrals 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 significant harm, the child protection pathway is followed. 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.

Upon receipt of an appropriate referral, the Duty Social Worker carries out preliminary enquiries, including checking to see if the case is already open or known to child protection services, clarifies the nature of the concern, contacts key professional ie public health nurses or teachers, and records the child and family details. It is possible that referrals can be closed at this stage or referred to another service (for instance to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). If the threshold for a child protection initial assessment is not met but a child has an unmet need then this may be addressed as a child welfare concern by local support services organised through the Local Area Pathways/Meitheal as a Family Support Plan.

A referral becomes an open case (one per child) when it meets the criteria to need an initial assessment. It will be given a priority level of high, medium and low, depending on the information available.