The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on the child protection and welfare service operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Louth Meath service area. HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under Section 8(1)(c) of the Health Act 2007 to monitor the quality of services provided by Tusla to protect children and promote their welfare. HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children and advises the Minister and Tusla.



HIQA conducted a focused inspection of the Louth Meath service area over three days on 25, 26 and 27 of April 2023. This inspection aimed to assess compliance with the national standards relating to the management of children who are at ongoing significant risk of harm and who are placed on Tusla’s Child Protection Notification System (CPNS). Of the six standards assessed, two were judged as compliant and four were not compliant. 



Overall, the Louth Meath service area needed to improve and strengthen governance arrangements in order to provide a consistent safe service to all children listed on the CPNS. There was a major capacity issue in staffing resources to meet the demands of the wider service, however children on the CPNS had not been prioritised sufficiently. As a result, the monitoring of children listed on the CPNS and the relevant child protection safety plans through social work visits was poor. In addition, three children listed on the CPNS did not have an allocated social worker, and two of these children had remained unallocated for a period of two months.



While there were risk management systems in place to ensure that all risks in the service were reported on and managed, this system was not effective in the reduction of prolonged and persistent risks to the service. Risks included high levels of staff vacancies and the high number of unallocated cases in the area. However, risks relating directly to children listed on the CPNS, such as infrequent home visits, were not identified. Systems to monitor and track the service provided to children on the CPNS were not effective in order to ensure that all children were visited as required and that their safety plans were monitored appropriately.



Child protection conferences were found to be well planned and inclusive of all participating family members. There was good attendance by all relevant professionals to ensure the needs of children were appropriately represented. Child protection conferences were comprehensively facilitated by an independent and appropriately-qualified chairperson. However, inspectors found there were gaps in respect of timelines for holding some conferences from the point of referral. Review child protection conferences were timely, of good quality, and there was a focus on ensuring that all key professionals were in attendance. 



There was a good level of interagency and inter-professional cooperation and supports within the service. Interagency and inter-professional attendance was good at child protection conferences. Strategy meetings were occurring for cases as required and it was clear that there was a good level of communication and consultation within the service.



The inspection report and compliance plan can be found at the link below.