Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The figure is quite low across the board; 5% do not have a social worker but we need to bring that down to 0%. It is important to identify that.

The second aspect of the Chairman's question referred to the services that need to be accessed for children even if there is a social worker and he or she is effective and meets with the child regularly. I am aware of all the challenges in that regard. It is the role of the social worker to ensure there is access to services. The Chairman wrote to the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, about this issue asking to meet him and asking about the possibility of setting up a group to deal with the issue. It is a good suggestion. Does Ms Clarke want to say anything about that? It is a key problem.