Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their engagement so far. I missed the start of the meeting as I was at a meeting of the Committee on Justice, so I apologise if any of these points have been touched on previously. I get the feeling that the majority of them may be for Ms Duggan on social work.

Child protection is the biggest turnover and it is the most front-facing part of the profession. Where are we at in the retention of social workers? How many cases on average would a social worker have or how many social workers would a child have, say, in a ten-year period? In many of the families I support, some of the kids are in the system for six to ten years and they are already on their tenth social worker. There would not even be any recognition or acknowledgement from Tusla that the social worker is changing and then a call will be made by the new social worker to introduce himself or herself. Then the process begins again of the same old questions the child has had to reveal for many years. This is a real issue.

Does Tusla have an idea of the average number of cases a social worker would have? Also, what is the average number of social workers a child could have throughout his or her time in foster care or on the files of Tusla? Where can one access the exit interview data of the hundreds of social workers who have left in recent years so that we can fix the issues?

I also have questions on Tusla's view on the imbalance between the foster parent and the child having a social worker but the parent not having his or her own social worker who would be his or her primary advocate and support in what is a difficult situation. Many parents seek family reunification and engage in the process but they are at a complete disadvantage when they enter a room in relation to a social worker's advocacy and who it is for. I would like to know Tusla's views on introducing a system whereby the parent who is looking for reunification has his or her own social worker support and representation. Sometimes Tusla will allow a family member to be present at those meetings but as the witnesses can imagine, many of these families come from disadvantaged backgrounds. While the family member might be able to emotionally support the person, he or she definitely cannot advocate in the same way a social worker can for the foster family or the children.

I would also like to know what supports are in place in regard to family reunification for a parent leaving the prison system, especially if the other parent is absent or may be deceased and if the children are living with a family member. I am supporting two men and one woman who are in the process of looking for family reunification on their release from prison. They have all said the same thing to me, that they are being discouraged at each meeting in regard to the potential for them to have their families reunified, even if they meet the criteria. Given that Tusla states that family reunification is a priority, what supports does it provide and what emphasis does it place on people leaving the prison system in terms of supporting family reunification? I hope the witnesses managed to take note of all those questions. I can repeat them if they did not.