Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1927. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on whether legislation is required to give Tusla a statutory duty to protect the welfare of children living in emergency accommodation, especially in hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation. [27464/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1928. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will request Tusla to develop statutory or non-statutory guidelines in respect of the length of time that households with children can be permitted to be temporarily housed by local authorities in hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation; and if not, the reason she is of the view these are not required. [27465/17]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1930. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on whether legislation is needed that would place a statutory obligation on Tusla to put measures in place that explicitly promote the welfare of children living in emergency homeless accommodation and require the agency to put in place in-reach teams to facilitate children's access to education and social services and to be tasked with the improvement of child welfare; and if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Tusla has no obligation in this regard and it is most frequently left to approved housing bodies to provide social support services to families living in emergency accommodation. [27467/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1927, 1928 and 1930 together.

Tusla, under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 and the Child Care Act 1991 has a statutory obligation to support and promote the development, welfare and protection of children, including providing for the protection and care of children in circumstances where their parents have not given, or are unlikely to be able to give, adequate protection and care. This obligation applies to all children in the State - regardless of their accommodation status.

It is important to note that Tusla only intervenes in family life in exceptional circumstances. Children who are with their families in emergency accommodation remain in the care of their parents or guardians. A child, irrespective of accommodation status, who comes to the attention of Tusla will, where the appropriate threshold has been reached, have an assessment carried out by a social worker. Where Tusla has concerns regarding the welfare and development of a child, due to parenting difficulties or adverse environmental factors, they will provide family supports to assist the family and child. Ongoing monitoring will form part of the response by Tusla where it is required. In addition, referrals to other services e.g. mental health services, will be made where appropriate.

As part of a whole-Government approach to homelessness, my Department is working closely with Tusla to provide supports for families in emergency accommodation in order to mitigate the challenges faced by parents and children in this situation. Of course, while Tusla has a role to play in this, it is not for that agency to determine by guidance or otherwise how long a family should be provided with emergency accommodation. Such matters are the statutory responsibility of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and Local Authorities.

As the Deputy is aware, Tusla has agreed a joint protocol with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE). This covers child welfare and protection matters for children in emergency accommodation. It is fully operational in the DRHE areas and it is intended to extend it to Galway, Limerick and Cork this year. Enhanced National Quality Standards for Homeless Services, including a child welfare component, are currently being developed by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive on behalf of all local authorities. A national advisory group has been in place since 2014 with representation from non-governmental homelessness service providers, the Health Service Executive, Tusla and others, as well as the housing authorities. Draft standards were piloted in services in four of the nine homeless regions during 2016 and it is expected that they will be implemented nationally in the coming months. This will, over time, enhance the quality of homeless service provision.

Tusla also funds child support workers and has appointed a Homelessness Liaison Officer. My Department is providing free childcare for homeless children in the Dublin area for up to 25 hours a week. The Family Resource Centres are working with people who are experiencing homelessness and many have already developed local responses to the needs of families in emergency accommodation. These include, by way of example, family fun days, homework support, after school programmes, play therapy and transport services. Tusla will be developing a reporting mechanism this year to record the extent of homeless work in the Family Resource Centres.

In recognition of the difficulties associated with homelessness and school attendance, the Educational Welfare Office offers a number of supports to children and their families. The DRHE has also arranged Leap cards for homeless families in Dublin to facilitate family days out and for school journeys.

Ultimately, my concern is that we minimise and then eliminate the problem of homelessess. In the meantime, I will continue to support measures to help those affected, to the greatest degree possible within my area of responsibility.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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1929. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if Tusla collects performance statistics on each local authority recording the length of time children are being housed in emergency accommodation, each household's access to an in-reach team that facilitates children's access to education and social services and the household's access to persons tasked with the improvement of child welfare; and if not, the reason therefor. [27466/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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As these are operational matters, I have asked Tusla – The Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy with the most up-to-date information.