Ms Aine McGuirk:

In the past, in former iterations of Tusla, there were secondments to enable people to qualify when there were short shortages of social workers. There is scope in that regard. Many community welfare officers took the requisite courses and became social workers. They received some funding from their employer at the time to do so. These are not new. The Irish Foster Care Association also mentioned the idea of bursaries. Giving somebody a contract under which they have to work for the organisation for two or three years or whatever the appropriate period is is different from having a course and stating one is going to qualify as a social worker but can only work in Tusla. The association would not be in favour of having such a course.