Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish Mr. Gloster well in his post. I worked with him in a former post in CHO area 3, which is in the mid-west. I thank him for the service he gave there over a number of years.

Mr. Gloster mentioned the local approach, which I very much welcome. He will know from our time working in mental health that I pushed for measures in that area, particularly around recruitment. I ask him to elaborate on the recruitment aspect, particularly in respect of social workers. We have had social workers, trade union representatives and others before the committee in the past 12 or 18 months to discuss the problems being experienced as a result of staff shortages, pressure on social workers and how Tusla will address that pressure. Mr. Gloster elaborated to some extent on that when responding to Deputy Sherlock. He used the phrase "agency conversion". Where is Tusla coming from on that in respect of service level agreements? Is Tusla buying contractors from agencies to become permanent staff? What way will that work? I understand that will have industrial relations implications.

Some time ago, I raised the issue of communication between Tusla and the Garda.

What is the position concerning communication between those two bodies particularly electronic communication as opposed to what we have seen in the past with paper communication, files that have gone missing or that have not been followed up, a matter that has been the subject of much discussion here? I pushed Mr. Gloster's predecessor to have proper integration between systems to ensure nothing falls between the cracks in these specific sensitive cases.