Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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583. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the average waiting time for children referred to social services to be investigated by county. [7804/19]

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.

Data on key performance indicators, including the number of referrals received and the waiting time for allocation to a social worker, are reported to my Department on the basis of Tusla area, and not by county, as requested by the Deputy. The most recent data available to my Department was reported by Tusla for the end of November 2018 and show that at that time there were 26,136 open cases. Of these, 20,046 were allocated to a social worker and 6,009 were awaiting allocation. Table 1 lays out the average waiting time by Tusla area.

Table 1.

Of the cases awaiting allocation to a social worker, 994 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 refers to a case involving a child which has been assessed as requiring a social work response, but which 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.