Another shocking but all too familiar report on children at risk of neglect was published this week. The audit of the management of neglect cases in three parts of the country, including my own area of Waterford, covered the period 2005 to 2010 and highlighted what most Deputies working in their constituencies are already aware of, namely, the systematic and ongoing impact staffing embargoes and lost posts in the HSE are having on children at risk.

This report is a damning indictment of the previous Government. It told of vulnerable children left without an allocated social worker, despite receiving as many as 30 referrals from separate agencies, of chronic understaffing in the psychological services - for instance, in Roscommon - which left 180 children waiting up to two years to be seen, and of caseloads often double the recommended number for a social workers. The suggestion was made that some professionals were not focused on the children's harsh everyday lives because they simply used the word "unhygienic" to describe situations such as beds saturated in urine, a complete absence of heat in houses, sometimes no food in houses and dog excrement on sitting room floors. These inherently unsafe arrangements still prevail around the country despite what the HSE might tell the Tánaiste or me. I spoke to a social worker at 8 o'clock this morning who told me what is happening in parts of the country. I also spoke to two social workers yesterday.

Figures show that more than 80 cases of suspected child abuse or neglect are being reported every day to social services. An investigation by the Ombudsman for Children found that social services failed to properly assess or follow-up hundreds of reports of children at risk, abuse or neglect in a timely manner. The Ombudsman cited one case where it took four months to organise a home visit to a seven year old who was witnessing domestic violence and another case where it took three months to organise a home visit to 16 year old girl where there were concerns that she was being savagely sexually abused.

Does the Tánaiste agree that the overburdened HSE staff are still working in a system which is leading to poor outcomes for some children? Can he explain why the HSE is still failing to implement the Children First guidelines, which were published more than ten years ago? Does he agree it is unacceptable that after 4 p.m. on a Friday in some parts of this country, there is no social worker available until 9 a.m. the following Monday, that gardaí are having to implement section 12 to take vulnerable children from their homes and be their social worker for a few hours until they get them to an adult psychiatric unit until they are seen on a Monday morning? Surely this is unacceptable in 2013.

This Government is acutely aware of the decades of neglect of Irish children and has sought to take real action to address the serious inadequacies which our care system has long had. The House needs no reminding of the horrific and systematic abuse which took place in a home in Roscommon. It shocked our nation and the Dáil and this country committed to ensuring that such abuse of innocent children should never happen again in this country. The Roscommon child care inquiry, which was published in October 2010, catalogued a number of concerns arising from the examination of the management of systematic and problematic neglect in a family known to the HSE's child protection services.

Since this Government came into office and Deputy Frances Fitzgerald took up her role as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in 2011, there has been a huge amount of change underway in children protection services. A new model for family-based multi-agency assessment and early intervention has already been trialled in two regions and is being mainstreamed as part of the establishment of the new Child and Family Agency. Last summer, shortly after the report was completed, HIQA published standards for inspection of the HSE's child and family services in respect of its child welfare and protection services. The Children First guidelines have been updated and the Minister is working to place those guidelines on a statutory basis and that legislation is to be published shortly. We have established the child and family agency, which will be a dedicated agency with dedicated staff to establish national standards.

In regard to the issue of social workers, the latest figures from the HSE indicate that there are currently 1,390 whole-time equivalent social workers in child and family services. This includes all 270 additional social workers recruited in line with the detailed recommendation of the Ryan report implementation plan of 2009. The recruitment of these posts was completed in full by this Government and these posts were not subject to the public service recruitment moratorium. Social work figures are consistently in flux, with vacancies arising due to various reasons such as leave, etc., but the Government is overseeing an ongoing programme of active recruitment to fill vacancies. Some 94 vacancies have recently been filled and further 81 are currently being filled.

The new programme of independent HIQA inspections is also under way in line with the first ever national standards for child protection services, which has been initiated by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald.

I am not one to lash out unfair criticism where it is unwarranted and I acknowledge the increase in the number of social workers since the Ryan report publication. The new care pathway system which involves multidisciplinary teams linking with community service looks good on paper but people are fed up of bureaucracy and guidelines, and they want front-line services.

Hear, hear.

All I can do is speak to people on the front line, as many of us do, asking them how the service is, whether it is working and if children are being affected. They acknowledge that there has been a dramatic difference, and I acknowledge the work of the Ministers for Children and Youth Affairs and Social Protection in that regard. Based on the report, the work of the ombudsman and accounts from people on the front line, it seems there is still a chronic and critical issue.

I ask the Tánaiste to address the unacceptable lack of service at weekends, when kids are most vulnerable to overdosing on drugs and alcohol or being victims to sexual abuse or even suicidal tendencies. Those on the front line have told me they need people to deal with such cases. I spoke to a member of the Garda this morning and they are not qualified to deal with cases where a child has been beaten up or allegedly sexually abused. They do not know what to do with such a child on a weekend. There are cases all over the country so the Tánaiste would be doing a great service to consider ensuring there is weekend cover by social workers.

Hear, hear.

I thank Deputy Halligan for acknowledging the work of both the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, in the area. I acknowledge that there are very real pressures on social work services and Deputy Halligan has referred to difficulties encountered on weekends. Some of the pressure on social work services arise from an increase in the numbers of child abuse and neglect referrals to the service. Abuse referrals have doubled nationally since 2005, and the recent pilot audit of neglect cases indicates that neglect referrals in two areas of the country, including Deputy Halligan's area, trebled between 2005 and 2009.

In response to those findings, there is a review of social work case loads, led by the HSE and involving staff input. That is nearing completion. That review of the case loads of social workers will inform future decision making in how the service is organised and operated. The challenge for social work services stemming from increased referrals will be further supported by the ongoing developments of new models for assessment and management of referrals. That work is being prioritised in tandem with the establishment of the new child and family agency.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, is aware of what the Deputy has drawn to the attention of the House this morning, and she has already taken action, with the review nearing completion. The child and family agency will have a role and the plan is for a different approach to be taken to the assessment and management of these services. Ultimately, we want a better outcome for children. I have given the figures to the House, with almost 1,400 social workers dedicated in the child and family area, and we want the best possible protection in place for children. We must respond in particular to the disturbing increase in the number of referrals coming forward.