Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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203. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average waiting time for referrals to be dealt with in particular with regard to children at risk or families in difficult social or economic circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38246/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that all referrals to Tusla are screened in a timely manner. Where appropriate, the referral will be routed to family support services or, in the case of child protection and welfare concerns, to a social work service. It is important to stress that urgent and emergency cases receive immediate attention by the local duty social work team.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, does not make a distinction between children who require assistance on the basis of their social or economic circumstances. The most recent data available to my Department was reported by Tusla for the end of the 1st quarter of 2018 and shows that at that time there were 24,669 open cases. Of these, 19,980 were allocated to a social worker and 4,689 (19%) were awaiting allocation.

Of the cases awaiting allocation to a social worker, 734 were categorised as high priority. The priority level assigned to the case is based on the need for intervention in the case, rather than on risk to the child.

It should be noted an unallocated case relates to a case involving a child which requires a social work response, but has not yet been allocated to a social worker. These cases are monitored and may be further progressed by the duty team. This can include checks with relevant professionals, home visits and gathering additional information.

The following table provides a breakdown of the waiting time for the high priority cases awaiting allocation to a social worker in March 2018. However, data in relation to waiting time was only available for 682 of these cases.

I am continuing to engage with the Tusla Board and Senior Management Team to monitor and review progress in reducing the number of unallocated cases and the waiting time for the allocation of a social worker to a case assessed as requiring a social work service.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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204. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the degree to which she is committed to liaising with voluntary organisations engaged in offering support to children or families at risk; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38247/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, commissions services for children and families through voluntary organisations throughout the country. Tusla's priority is to improve outcomes for children and to ensure that services are provided in the most effective, equitable, proportionate and sustainable way.

In 2017, Tusla issued some €140m to external organisations providing services to children and families throughout Ireland.

I have requested Tusla to respond to the Deputy directly with further information.