Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Estimates for Public Service 2019
Vote 40 - Children and Youth Affairs (Revised)

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

There are two aspects to that. The primary aspect is that increasing the number of administrative support workers will free up our social workers to do more of the job they have been trained to do. We may have some figures on increasing administrative staff, certainly for 2018 and I will see if I have them to hand. That is the intention and as that happens, the intensity and disadvantages arising from our inability to recruit as many social workers will reduce. That is the first point.

Second, this point also refers to the importance of the Tusla multi-annual strategic workforce plan, on which the agency has been working for some time now. It will encompass their capability, as well as their capacity planning. They are working on a plan that is rooted in evidence as to how to manage their talent, as well as the types of workers that they require. It has five or six key strategic themes, which include recruitment, retention, organisational design and supply. Consideration also must be given to how these differ across the regions, as well as the kinds of work that are required. It is not finished yet and a number of drafts have gone before the board. In the last while, I appointed a number of board members. I appointed two human resource experts and I expect that bringing such expertise to examine that workforce plan has meant the board has called for a little more detailed work to be done on the complexity of the plan.

It sounds straightforward and is true that simply bringing in more administrators would help us with the social workers; we all know that. We must look, however, for the optimal mix, how this will work in the different regions and how it will impact the panels Tusla has established. These are all matters that are being dealt with in the workforce plan. When that becomes available, and we expect it will be in the next short period of time-----

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