Published on 

Minister O’Gorman welcomes inspection reports of four Tusla services

 

Minister for Children, Disability, Equality and Integration Roderic O’Gorman T.D. welcomed inspection reports of four Tusla services, published today, where children commented positively on their experiences of social work services.  The Tusla services were the foster care service in Mayo, and three Child Protection and Welfare Services in Donegal, Galway/Roscommon and Dublin South East/Wicklow.

Inspectors highlighted children’s own experiences who showed a high degree of satisfaction with social workers and foster carers who keep them safe.

Minister O’Gorman said,

I am very pleased to see how well the Tusla Mayo foster care service fared, where social workers meet all standards inspected. I particularly welcome hearing directly from children in the reports – this is really putting children at the centre of the service. Fifty three children responded to survey questions and all feedback demonstrated the importance of listening and involving children in decisions about them.

One child’s comment in the report summed up the responses of many:

I like that my current foster family feels like home and my opinions that I give are always backed up by them, bad or good. Each person in the house makes me feel welcome. They always influence me to do my best. I can be myself here, I don't need to act anymore. I don't feel like I'm by myself anymore. I like that they trust me and that I kinda trust them, and that's not easy for me. I feel three things are important in a house and they give them to me; love, trust and safety. My foster family shows me these every single day without a shadow of a doubt.

HIQA’s reports on the three child protection services showed that overall they were doing well, with areas for improvement in making sure local services were consistent with national standards. Children who met inspectors said that ‘everything had changed since I met my social worker’ and gave suggestions as to how social workers could listen better. Parents in one area said that social workers communicated well with them.  

The Minister noted the challenges for social workers working in this area, as parents whose children are referred to Tusla are usually experience serious personal problems and may not wish to engage with child protection services however he said that “is essential that all parents and children are treated respectfully and offered services to meet their needs”. HIQA identified the need for a sufficient number of well supported social workers to undertake this important function and said his Department was engaged with Tusla and other stakeholders on this matter.

These inspections were completed before the outbreak of Covid-19 and the reports are being released by HIQA in a series of delayed publications.