Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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628. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the extent to which he and his Department continue to monitor the needs of children, in the home, in care, or any other situations where the voice of the child needs to be heard or specific action needs to be taken medically or psychologically, with a view to ensuring that not only is the voice of the child being heard but is seen to be heard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26382/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Statutory and operational responsibility for the delivery of child protection and welfare services is a matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

Tusla has a role in referring children to external services such as medical or psychological services which are deemed necessary through assessment of needs. These services are not provided by Tusla and Tusla does not have governance of service provision in health care, whether in an acute or a community setting.

Children First, National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children sets out the steps which should be taken to ensure that the child or young person is protected from harm.

If a child appears to be at risk of harm or neglect, the concerns should be reported to Tusla. Anyone can report a concern about a child to Tusla, and information on how to do so is available on the Tusla website.

At the end of January 2023, the most recent period for which figures are available, there were 22,418 cases open to social work nationwide. This figure includes cases at all stages from referral and assessment, children listed on the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) and children in alternative care. The CPNS is a securely held national list that records the names of children who have been identified as being at ongoing risk of significant harm and are, or have been, subject to a Child Protection Plan agreed at a Child Protection Conference.

70% of open cases were allocated to a named social worker. Other cases received a service from dedicated duty teams or rotating social workers on a duty roster.

The placements of children in alternative care, both foster care and residential care, are subject to the Placement of Children in Care Regulations 1995, the National Standards for Foster Care 2003 and the National Standards for Children's Residential Services 2018. Adherence to foster care standards is monitored by HIQA and inspection reports are published on HIQA's website. Adherence to residential care standards is monitored by both HIQA (in the case of Tusla operated centres) and Tusla (in the case of private and voluntary operated centres). All national standards require that the voice of the child is heard throughout the period they receive a service from Tusla.

Below is an example of Residential Care standards which relate to the child’s voice being heard. These include but are not limited to:

1.3 - Each child exercises choice, has access to an advocacy service and is enabled to participate in making informed decisions about their care.

1.6 - Each child is listened to and complaints are acted upon in a timely, supportive and effective manner.

4.2 - Each child is supported to meet any identified health and development needs.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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629. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of cases of child neglect brought to the attention of his Department over the past three years; the extent to which a necessary follow-up took place as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26383/23]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is the statutory body with responsibility for child protection and welfare services. If I, or my officials, become aware of a situation in which a child is considered to be at risk, that concern is communicated to Tusla as a matter of urgency.

The Deputy is seeking information in relation to an operational matter for Tusla. Consequently, I have referred the matter to Tusla, and requested that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.