James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In regard to Deputy Troy's question on the ESRI report, I am not in a position to tell him precisely when that will be. When the ESRI is finished its work - I do not have an indication when that will be - we will take a number of weeks to examine the report. It would be unwise to do otherwise. I fully accept the Deputy's point that those involved in the school completion programme will be anxious until that process is finished, which is understandable.

In regard to the issue of inspectors, public health nurses are trained and have experience of child development, so they are suited to work in areas of inspection. Around a quarter of the existing inspectors are from other professions. Recent recruitments of principal inspectors were open to a wide range of professions. The issue of recruiting others at the basic grade will be considered by Tusla and the Department. It is an area that we need to examine, because public health nurses are also in short supply. If we could take them off this work then they could get back to their other work. It would be to everyone's advantage if we could train inspectors, in a different way, to look after this work. However, inspectors that come from the Department of Education and Skills look at a different element - the education element.

In regard to the issue raised about social workers, I will repeat that the turnover rate for social workers is 6.7%, which is lower than many of the equivalent figures internationally. It is lower than that of the UK, much lower than that of the USA and lower again than that of Western Australia. Social work is challenging. It is a tribute to social workers here that the staff turnover is much lower than among our international comparators. It is not true to say there is no career development, because there is; they can progress to senior social work, etc.

I wish to make a general point about Tusla. At what point is one ever able to say that one could not do with more money and more things? We have done particularly well in 2015, given the fact that we have come through six years of a very severe economic contraction, which is putting it mildly. I shall not turn this into a political football. We have managed to protect a lot of the funding in the area of youth and children, plus the ECCE programme, through the worst years of recession that this country has endured. We have to keep our minds open in this matter and we will seek to improve.

I wish to state two things. First, we would like to get more funding for more initiatives. Second, there is a huge duty on all of us here to ensure that taxpayers get value for money and that the things we are doing achieve the outcomes we seek. That is one of the things I am very strong on. There is continuous evaluation of the programmes we have in place to ensure they deliver on what we want, which is better outcomes for children, and are not just there to make us feel good or because we feel it is the right thing to do. I do not have much more to say on this.