Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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259. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if information requested (details supplied) is with the management of Tusla; and if so, if she will provide the information. [15825/17]

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

At the end of Quarter 3, 2016, Tusla reported that 60% of referrals received were of a child welfare concern with the remaining 40% related to child protection concerns. The number of referrals reported over the last five years is detailed in the table below categorised by child welfare or child protection concerns. A child welfare concern is a problem experienced directly by a child, or by a family of a child, that is seen to impact negatively on the child’s health, development and welfare, and that warrants assessment and support, but may not require a child protection response (Child Protection and Welfare Handbook, HSE 2011). A child protection concern is where there are reasonable grounds for believing that a child may have been, is being or is at risk of being physically, sexually or emotionally abused or neglected.

The following table provides a further breakdown of child abuse referrals by category of abuse for the years 2013 and 2014.

Comparisons between years before 2012 are not included here as due to definitional changes. Following the introduction of the standard business process across social work teams, referrals are now counted per child whereas prior to 2012 referrals were counted differently according to ‘case’ which may have included several children

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. As a result, every year, approximately 50% of referrals can be expected to proceed from preliminary enquiry to the initial assessment stage.

The following table details the percentage of referrals that, following a preliminary assessment, required an initial assessment in each quarter of 2014, 2015 and 2016 (to end September).

As outlined in Children First Guidance, An Garda Síochána and Tusla have different functions, powers and methods of working. The specific focus of Tusla is on the assessment of risk to a child and their welfare and protection. The role of An Garda Síochána is the investigation of an alleged offence and undertaking a criminal investigation into an allegations of child abuse. It is the responsibility of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to decide on, and to carry out, prosecutions.