Sir, – The revelation in The Irish Times that 9,000 cases of abuse, neglect or welfare concerns over children at risk are waiting for a social worker is deeply concerning ("Thousands of children at risk await social workers", September 5th). This is fundamentally a political issue, which must be high on the Cabinet agenda as it prepares Budget 2015, because it highlights an extremely serious and potentially catastrophic funding shortfall within Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
It is, or ought to be, a cause of national scandal – especially given our history in the matter – that thousands of children at risk of abuse, neglect or welfare concerns are having to wait to be allocated a social worker. Worryingly, we understand more than a third (3,250) are “high priority” cases that were awaiting a response during the summer.
Any delays can result in deepening hurt and trauma on the child and situations reaching crisis point. The failure to intervene early places these children and families at ever-deepening risk. Children in these situations need immediate support, and Tusla must be appropriately equipped to provide that essential care.
Everyone involved in the field knows the budget provided to set up Tusla was too small to cover its projected costs, by at least €60 million. Essentially, it was given only around 90 per cent of what it needed when it was established earlier this year. There is no evidence of waste, mismanagement or gratuitous overspending within Tusla – quite the opposite.
We all know that Tusla is working hard to streamline systems and practices, but a built-in deficit like this is a recipe for catastrophe and failure. Tusla must be given adequate funding in Budget 2015 to ensure it can cover its mandate adequately, but also to ensure the system can cope with the necessary extra workload that will arise when mandatory reporting is introduced, hopefully in 2015, and also for the new workload resulting from the need for an adequate inspection regime in the childcare area. – Yours, etc,
FERGUS FINLAY,
Chief Executive,
Barnardos,
Christchurch Square,
Dublin 8.