Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Jeyes for his submission on what is a very serious matter. In his opening statement he spoke about the newly appointed principal social worker who had reported their concerns. Whoever they are, they should be commended for expressing their concerns. Who was the principal social worker before this new appointment was made and where are they now?

Some 800 files do not fall out of the sky on a Monday morning. There has obviously been systematic evasion or distortion of what is coming through the duty system, if files are unacknowledged. From my time in the service, referrals come through the duty system and are dealt with either by the team leader or at a team meeting with the principal social worker. They are directed in a particular way because sometimes there will be a network check and a case may be closed off. We are not even sure how many, but the number of referrals seems to be in excess of 800, particularly from An Garda Síochána which generally does not make referrals lightly. When gardaí make referrals, it is often because of the absence of a social worker after 5 p.m. if it is an emergency. That is not always the case, but it is much of the time when gardaí are dealing with cases outside normal social worker hours.

I would like to know what was going on in Laois-Offaly before this new principal social worker was appointed.