Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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527. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of actions arising from an audit (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4370/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for her question.

I met with Dr. Shannon after the publication of his report to better understand the intent of the recommendations it contained, and to seek clarity on the measures that would be applied to assess their implementation. Following these discussions Dr. Shannon and I agreed the Action Plan.

I am pleased to report progress has been made on the recommendations. While many of the recommendations for Tusla are of an ongoing nature, I sought assurance at the start of this process that the issues identified are kept to the fore across child protection assessments and on-going engagement with vulnerable families.

The ongoing implementation of 'Signs of Safety' as the national approach to child protection provides an increased level of analysis and judgement, which will improve consistency in determining appropriate response pathways for children and families, ensuring they receive a proportionate and timely response.

Joint working between Tusla and An Garda Síochána has been enhanced on a number of levels. In relation to Tusla's engagement with An Garda Síochána, the Joint Working Protocol has been operational since Quarter 1, 2018. Work has now commenced on the joint auditing of its implementation.

The Tusla/An Garda Síochána Joint Data Sharing Agreement is expected to be signed off by Tusla's Interim CEO and the Garda Commissioner in Quarter 1, 2019.

An Garda Síochána has established the National Child Protection Unit, which is now operational. In October 2018, Tusla assigned a senior staff member for secondment to this Unit with specific responsibility for the development of a joint working model. A draft Specialist Interviewing Protocol is under consultation, with a target launch date end of February 2019.

Progress has also been made on developing the out of hours social work service. A single national out of hours number went live on 3rd December 2018 and is available to members of An Garda Síochána, Out of Hours GP services and the Accident and Emergency service. This service provides access to an on-call social worker at regional/area level who can go the scene of an incident in specific cases of a serious nature.

Dr Shannon's findings on the manner in which Section 12 circumstances were managed by An Garda Síochána prompted me also to request Tusla to commission research into how social workers made decisions when a child came into their custody, following the use by An Garda Síochána of Section 12. This research was undertaken by NUI Galway and a final report is expected early this year.

As the Deputy will be aware, the focus of Dr. Shannon's audit of the application of Section 12 was An Garda Síochána, and the majority of recommendations focus on improving Garda practice in these situations. The report also identified key areas for improvement in Tusla practice and the Action Plan I agreed with Dr Shannon specifically addressed these areas. While not all actions are yet completed, I am confident that the changes that have and are being put in place are bringing about significant improvements.

I have also established an interdepartmental group to put in place arrangements for cross-agency centres to support children and families who have suffered from child sexual abuse.

‘One House' centres are intended to provide services for children and adolescents where there is a concern that sexual abuse may have occurred. The intention is that the centres will support children who have suffered sexual abuse while accessing care or health services, and engaging with the criminal justice system. The 'One House' will bring together the forensic, protection, health, therapeutic and policing services in a child centred way in order to minimise as far as possible any additional trauma for the child and their family. The centres should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of child sexual abuse services and develop specialist expertise, skills and knowledge in this complex area, for the benefit of children who have suffered from sexual abuse and their families.