Tuesday, 30 Apr 2024

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, my Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it. To date, over 106,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs) have arrived in Ireland and approximately 84,000 of those have been referred to my Department seeking accommodation from the State.

The offer to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection at the property to which the Deputy refers was rejected on 24 January 2024, as my Department is not currently seeking this format of accommodation for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection.

As part of Government policy, a move to a more sustainable accommodation strategy is underway. My Department is now focused on the stand up of larger-scale designated accommodation centres for new arrivals and a reduction in the overall privately provided accommodation stock being used for BOTPs. My Department is also currently able to cope with arrival numbers in Designated Accommodation Centres, as well as for those who need to be moved due to contracts ending using vacancies arising within our existing portfolio.

It should be noted that while the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) are continuing to receive and assess offers of accommodation for persons seeking international protection, this property is not currently under consideration to accommodate International Protection Applicants.

The General Scheme and Heads of Bill to amend the Child Care Act 1991 were approved by Government and published in April 2023. They immediately underwent pre-legislative scrutiny (PLS) which resulted in a report with over 90 recommendations published in June of last year, each of which has been subject to consideration by my Department.

Since January 2024 the Bill is on the priority publication list for the Summer 2024 session of the Oireachtas. My officials are engaging intensively with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) on the priority drafting of the Bill.

In order to progress the removal of the exemptions relating to childminders and to allow the introduction of childminder-specific regulations by Autumn of this year, last week the Government approved a proposal to separate the Bill into two distinct Bills, as follows:

• a first Bill consisting of more immediate amendments to Part VIIA of the Child Care Act 1991, with the intention of bringing the finalised Bill relating to these elements back to Government for publication during this summer session; and

• a second Bill consisting of the remainder of proposed amendments, which arise from the Review of the Child Care Act, with the intention of bringing this second Bill back to Government for publication before the end of the summer session.

Officials in my Department will continue to engage intensively with the OPC, Tusla and other relevant stakeholders in order to meet the commitment to publish these two Bills in this session.

As this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

The Deputy will likely be aware that the industrial action by certain Forsa grades in the HSE has been suspended. The HSE has indicated that they have recommenced issuing replies to questions but there is a significant backlog of PQs to be responded to and has advised that they are working to get through these as soon as possible while at the same time managing the volume of current PQs.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, my Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on providing access to emergency temporary accommodation to those fleeing the conflict who request it, in line with Government policy. To date, approximately 106,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection (BOTPs) have arrived in Ireland and over 83,000 of those have been referred to my Department seeking accommodation from the State.

Approximately 27,500 International Protection applicants are currently in IPAS accommodation. Prior to the war in Ukraine, there were 8,300 applicants for international protection in State supported accommodation. The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) works at all times to ensure accommodation capacity is utilised in the most effective manner possible.

The information requested has been extracted from our systems and is outlined in tabular form below. Please note that in relation to BOTPs, the below table refers to BOTPs in DCEDIY-provided accommodation only. I should point out to the Deputy that that these figures provide an overview at a point in time and is contingent on a number of factors that are subject to change including accommodation availability, providers in contract at any given time, configurations, transfers resulting from contracts ceasing.

My Department publishes regular information on the accommodation of Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection by local authority, and this can be found at: gov.ie - dcya.cloud.gov.ie/KnowledgeBase/UkraineData/Content/Pages/BreakdownbyCounty.aspx.

My Department also releases weekly statistics in relation to international protection (IP) applicants. This includes a per county breakdown of where IP applicants are residing. These statistics are located on the Gov.ie website: www.gov.ie/en/publication/07027-ipas-statistics/.

I wish to inform the Deputy that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) is not paying for any copper communication lines within the Department. DCEDIY operates on the Build to Share (BTS) Managed Desktop Service provided by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and these services are provided exclusively via Government Networks (GN). The OGCIO did not install any such lines.

The Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 lays out the obligations of both public bodies and private individuals in terms of retaining and maintaining relevant records as defined under the Act. Relevant records are defined as relating to a relevant person, and contain birth information, early life information, care information or medical information relating to him or her, or a photograph or other image of his or her mother, father or other genetic relative. Relevant persons are those who were adopted, nursed out, boarded out, subject to an illegal birth registration, or resided in a mother and baby or county home institution as a child. Where private nursing homes recorded such information, the files would be considered as relevant records under the Act.

The transfer of records from private individuals in specific circumstances is provided for in Part 7 of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, which confers this power on the Adoption Authority of Ireland. It mandates that any person or body in possession of relevant records under the Act must retain and maintain them, and inform the Authority of their nature. Where it is in the public interest to do so, the Authority may direct the transfer of those records into its care. This will ensure that relevant records which may be held by other institutions can be accessed to release information.

Relevant records are being identified and transferred into the care of the Authority on an ongoing basis. To date, the Authority has issued three directions under Section 48 of the Act for the transfer of relevant records from persons, other than an Information Source. The Adoption Authority aims to develop a medium term strategy for the continued acquisition, retention and safeguarding of records.

Prior to the Act's commencement in 2022, the transfer of records from private nursing homes was conducted on a voluntary basis. Tusla took possession of a number of records from private nursing homes by deed of transfer prior to the commencement of the Act. In keeping with Section 44 and as a primary information source, Tusla retains and maintains records in accordance with the Act, and this information is available to relevant persons making an application under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022.

This process of safeguarding relevant records is active and ongoing, and as new information regarding the whereabouts of relevant records comes to light, this information is actively shared between Tusla and the Authority.

Furthermore, in March 2022, Government approved high-level proposals for a National Centre for Research and Remembrance, to be located on the site of the former Magdalen Laundry on Sean McDermott Street in Dublin 1. The National Centre will stand as part of our national institutions and one of the key elements will be a repository of records related to institutional trauma in the 20th century, which will form part of the National Archives.

A Steering Group is driving the work on the development of the National Centre. Work on the creation of the central repository of records within the National Centre is being led by the National Archives under the auspices of this Steering Group. It is envisaged that the repository will include the historical records of residential institutions, including Industrial Schools, Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby and County home institutions and Orphanages. The issue of privately-held records, which are not subject to the terms of the National Archives Act or the Birth Information and Tracing Act, is one of a number of issues being considered by a dedicated legal and legislative subgroup, that has been established under the auspices of the Steering Group, to support this work.

Investment in early learning and childcare is at unprecedented levels with public funding exceeding €1.1 billion in 2024 – a clear demonstration from Government of the value of the sector.

The introduction of Core Funding in September 2022 brought a significant increase in investment for the sector, with €210.8m of brand new funding for the sector in its first year of operation.

One of the key objectives of Core Funding is to support the sector as a whole with the introduction of direct supply-side funding, in addition to the ECCE programme and the NCS, to create a more stable and sustainable financial environment.

Furthermore, Core Funding makes a significant additional contribution to services’ income, allowing them to better absorb increased costs. In Year 1 of Core Funding, some €259 million was allocated under the scheme and 99% of services saw their income increase through Core Funding with 1%, or close to 60 services, receiving top up payments to ensure their income did not decrease for the same level of provision offered.

The average allocation for a Partner Service has increased by 9% between March 2023 and March 2024. There is additional funding available in the current programme year to further increase funding to services with graduate lead educators and managers who have fewer than 3 years’ experience. The release of this funding is dependent on the establishment of updated Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) reflecting this change.

Arising from Budget 2024, the Core Funding allocation for year 3 of the scheme will increase again by 15% - to €331 million. This will support the delivery of a range of enhancements in Year 3 of the scheme to support improved affordability and accessibility for families, improved pay and conditions for the workforce and improved sustainability for providers.

According to recent data from Pobal, 28 services have withdrawn from Core Funding this year.

Of these services, 15 have permanently closed and 13 continue to operate. I am aware also that three other services have notified Pobal of their intention to withdraw from the Scheme in the coming weeks.

Services who signed the Core Funding Partner Service Funding Agreement have a contractual obligation to give three months’ notice before withdrawing from the Scheme.

This means that only those three services mentioned above are due to leave before 24 July 2024.

Providers that withdraw from Core Funding remain eligible, in this programme year, to continue to offer the ECCE programme and the National Childcare Scheme.

While my Department cannot mandate providers to participate, every effort has been made to carefully design Core Funding to meet a range of policy objectives, including achieving high levels of participation by providers.

95% of providers participated in year 1 of the Scheme and to date, 94% or over 4,300 providers have signed up for Core Funding in year 2. There are more providers, in absolute terms, contracted to the Scheme this year compared to year 1 and applications are still open and continue to increase.

It is a matter for providers to decide whether they wish to withdraw from Core Funding, the significant financial supports it offers to providers and the certainty it provides to parents through the associated fee freeze. However, I am confident that given the level of investment in this Scheme, which will increase by 15% or €44 million to €331 million in year 3, services should not need to take this step.

I do not want any services to be faced with financial sustainability issues and I am fully committed to working with any such service to support them in delivering early learning and childcare for the public good.

Supports are available from my Department where a service is experiencing financial difficulty or has concerns about their viability, accessed through local City/County Childcare Committee (CCC). Any service who would like to avail of advice or supports on a concern regarding their sustainability, is encouraged to reach out to their local CCC. Contact details for their local CCC can be found at www.myccc.ie.

I encourage services to avail of these supports as an alternative to withdrawing from Core Funding and removing the benefits of this Scheme to parents.

Missing Children in care is an issue which covers both mainstream services for children in the care of Tusla and also SSCIP /separated children. However, the issue of children in care going missing long term is an issue that relates predominantly to SCSIP. This is a European-wide phenomenon in respect of separated children and unaccompanied minors.

I share the wider public concern about the increased risk of child and human trafficking, particularly in the context of increased people movement globally. My Department and Tusla work closely on the safeguarding framework for all children in care to ensure that it continues to be sufficiently robust to protect children from evolving risks.

Currently there are 19 children missing from care in Tusla’s Separated Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIP) service and 12 children are missing from mainstream care. Tusla report that most of children who go missing return to care.

Children reported missing from care are recognised as being among the most vulnerable in society. Tusla along with An Garda Síochána work together on such cases through a Joint Protocol. This protocol sets out how social workers and social care workers should make a report of a missing child in care, when and how information about the child may be released to the public if the child is not located, and arrangements for the return of the child to care when they are found.

If social work or social care staff determine that a child is missing they must report the child as missing to An Garda Siochána in line with the Joint Protocol. The Gardaí have primary responsibility for investigating once a child is reported missing and throughout the Garda investigation, Tusla staff and carers maintain regular contact with the Gardaí, pass on all relevant information and assist in the safe return of the child.

Tusla has also advised that they prepare an Absence Management Plan for each child in care. This plan is a tool to manage the risk in the event of a child going missing.?? It aims to ensure that children are given age-appropriate curfews/coming in times which reflect their ability to keep themselves safe when they are unsupervised within the community.? Interventions following incidents are focused on the individual child, the care placements and/or “pull” factors in the community following which, the Absence Management Plan for the young person may be reviewed to ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of the young person.

In 2020 Tusla also developed the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) procedure in partnership with An Garda Síochána to guide this area of work. The Department of Justice is leading on a new national referral mechanism to address human trafficking in Ireland, which will include Tusla. A Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure was developed to assist Tusla staff in recognising indicators of child sexual exploitation, making appropriate referrals where such concerns exist and responding to cases where children may be at risk of sexual exploitation.

Since early 2022, Tusla has partnered with MECPATHS to raise awareness and provide frontline staff across Tusla services with training on Child Trafficking in Ireland, thus increasing the agency’s capacity to respond to this evolving area of need.

As part of “Operation Cosnaím” all concerns of child sexual exploitation regarding a child who is in the care of The Child and Family Agency-Tusla, are notified to a centralised point in the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB).

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) was established under the Health Act 2007. HIQA was established to drive high-quality and safe care for people using health and social care services in Ireland.

The functions of HIQA are set out in the 2007 Act, as amended. HIQA is independent in the performance of its functions, including in relation to the development of standards and monitoring compliance with those standards. The approval of standards is a function of the relevant Minister.

I am not aware of HIQA undertaking any specific investigation on foot of this report. However, HIQA has a broad inspection function of Tusla services against the Child Protection and Welfare Standards (2012). Standard 2.2 specifically references actions to be taken on foot of suspected child sexual abuse, including sharing information on any suspected case of sexual abuse with An Garda Síochána in order to protect the child and/or other children from significant harm.

Prior to the publication of the report, my Department and Tusla established a Working Group looking at institutional and organisational abuse. My Department has requested that the Group consider the report and make recommendations as required, after which I will consider any further steps as may be necessary.

I, my Department and the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) continue to take the issue of potential Child Sexual Exploitation very seriously and are committed to promoting safe and high quality practice in all areas of Alternative Care.

As you may be aware, an Independent review was commissioned by St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI) in March 2021 following on from historic allegations of abuse by a former volunteer of that organisation. The board of SJAI appointed Dr. Geoffrey Shannon to conduct that review. The Independent review report was published by the board of SJAI on March 16th 2023.

Officials in my Department had been liaising with SJAI both before the publication of the independent review report and have had ongoing engagement with SJAI since the publication of Dr. Shannon’s report. Of utmost concern to me has been the supports provided to survivors of abuse and ensuring that the comprehensive recommendations contained in Dr Shannon’s report are implemented.

In addition, my Department at assistant secretary general level, has met with Tusla’s senior management, including its Director of services and integration, to review the findings of Dr Shannon’s report and learnings arising from same. This meeting took place directly following the publication of the report. The following was agreed;

• It was agreed that Tusla and the DCEDIY would continue to work together to ensure the recommendations of the report are implemented.

• It was also agreed that Tusla and the DCEDIY will work together to review/develop the institutional/organisational abuse policies and procedures and oversight of issues including review of child safeguarding statement, and child protection polices where issues of allegations emerge/are reported to Tusla.

• Tusla advised it would set up a working group to look at developing a policy on institutional/ organisational abuse with my Department also represented on this work group.

• The working group had its’ first meeting on May 11th 2023 and its terms of reference includes;

Review the learnings arising from Dr Shannon’s independent review of SJAI

Develop policies and procedures and to develop and implement a plan to support same.

At the end of January 2024, the Working Group appointed a Research Company who will be jointly funded by my Department and Tusla, into the area of organisational and institutional abuse of children, including children placed in residential care settings.

This research will review international literature and best practice around same. It is intended that the commissioned research will also look at the findings, learnings and recommendations of seminal reports on abuse of children in residential care settings, including for example the Rotherham report into child sexual exploitation, the Rochdale enquiry in to child sexual exploitation.

The working group is also reviewing issues related to Dr Shannon’s report on response pathways and procedures to respond to any similar concerns which may arise in the future in respect to referrals related to organisations working with minors in the community or where children are placed in care placements. This will include a robust co-ordinated response pathway in respect of child safeguarding statements and policies where concerns are notified to Tusla.

The Organisational and Institutional Abuse Working Group has met on a number of occasions and will continue to meet in the months. Presently there is no specific timeframe available for the finalisation and publication of the Group's report, but this will become clearer as this work progresses. It is however expected that this work will be finalised by late Summer/ early Autumn.

Children in the care of the State are some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and my Department are committed to promoting safe and high quality practice in all areas of Alternative Care.

The Child Care Act, 1991, as amended, provides the statutory foundation for the promotion of welfare and protection of all children. Building on that, Children First provides national guidance for professionals, organisations and individuals to help keep children safe and protected from harm, including sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Children First Act 2015, which was fully commenced in December 2017, provides in detail for a number of key child protection measures, including raising awareness of child abuse and neglect, providing for mandated reporting of child protection concerns, and improving child protection arrangements in organisations providing services to children.

The Children First Act also established the Children First Inter-Departmental Implementation Group, on which each Government Department, Tusla, the HSE and An Garda Síochána is represented, on a statutory footing. The functions of the Implementation Group include promoting compliance by Government Departments with their obligations under the Act.

The Children First Act operates side-by-side with the non-statutory obligations provided for in Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017. These guidelines have been in place since 1999 and were fully revised and published in October 2017 to include reference to provisions of the Act. The Guidance sets out definitions of abuse, and signs for its recognition. It explains how reports about reasonable concerns of child abuse or neglect should be made by the general public and professionals to Tusla. It also sets out safeguarding best practice to assist any organisation providing a service to children to create a safe environment.

Tusla has a statutory obligation to notify An Garda Síochána (AGS) of all incidences of suspected child sexual exploitation, including those relating to children in the care of the State. AGS leads the investigation into these notifications. Consequently, Tusla liaises closely with Gardaí, and also has an assigned Principal Social worker based with Garda National Protective Services.

Finally, where there may be child welfare concerns, the onus falls on all of us to report concerns that a child may have been, is being, or is at risk of being abused or neglected. Tusla has developed a comprehensive referral system through which organisations, the public and mandated people can share their concerns for a child potentially at risk of neglect or abuse.

Tusla maintains a Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure in partnership with An Garda Síochána. The joint working protocol between Tusla and AGS forms a critical part of the response to child abuse, neglect, and child sexual exploitation. A Principal Social Worker from Tusla has been seconded to the Garda National Protective Service Bureau (GNPSB) for a number of years.

Tusla has advised that online training on child sexual exploitation is available to Tusla staff, Tusla funded residential care staff, and to providers of SEAs. Training workshops are also facilitated where requested or required.

In line with Children First and child safeguarding requirements, service providers are obliged to comply with Children First and to have in place, and implement, policies and procedures. Tusla staff regularly ask for such policies and procedures as part of their work on inspections, audits, complaints, contract review processes. Tusla has indicated that all staff in residential centres for the care of children undergo Children First training, which provides guidance for the protection and welfare of children.

Tusla’s Children First Information and Advice Service (CFIAS) and its Child Safeguarding Compliance Unit (CSSCU) are also available to provide support and feedback on child safeguarding statements (CSS) and their associated procedures.

Recommendation 5.3.6 in the Protecting Against Predators scoping study recommends further research into the prevalence of sexual exploitation of children and young people in Ireland. The study recommends a number of different approaches to research that could be carried out in future.

I note that this recommendation is aimed at investigating the prevalence of sexual exploitation among the wider population, in relation to children and adults who may have been exploited when they were children, encompassing a range of sectors and services across Government. In this regard, I understand that this was a general recommendation calling for more research into this important topic.

My Department funds a variety of research in relation to the services under its remit, or the remit of the Child and Family Agency (Tusla). In particular, concerning children in care, my Department funds The Child Law Project and the Care Experiences Project. While these projects do not focus exclusively on child sexual exploitation, they operate according to a wide remit in terms of their research into issues that affect children in care.

In this regard, the Child Law Project in particular has shed important light on topics affecting children in care over the course of its work. The Child Law Project, in its ‘Ripe for Reform’ report published in 2021, highlighted court cases which it had reported on that involved suspected sexual exploitation.

In addition, and prior to the publication of the UCD (SERP) report, my Department and Tusla established a Working Group looking at institutional and organisational abuse. My Department has requested that the Group consider the report and make recommendations as required, after which I will consider any further steps as may be necessary.

The Group is in the process of commissioning independent research, jointly funded by my Department and Tusla, into the area of organisational and institutional abuse of children, including children placed in residential care settings. This research will review international literature and best international social work practice and child safeguarding responses in this area. It is intended that the commissioned research will also look at the findings, learnings and recommendations of seminal reports on abuse of children in residential care settings, such as the Rotherham report, and the Rochdale enquiry.

The procurement process for this research was completed in January 2024 and, following a number of applications, an identified external researcher was appointed to commence the research in early 2024.