Mr. Vivian Geiran:

I want to respond to the Senator’s questions on social work challenges in governance and then there were a number of specific areas that relate to social work that Ms O'Connor might respond to in terms of education, training, the role of the public and society, and whatever else. To go back to governance, there are a number of areas and we have highlighted some of these in our written submission but the Senator referred to some of the interim measures that could happen fairly soon and even ahead of the proposed legislation. We urgently need more and greater transparency and accountability and we have been calling and would continue to call for the publication of inquiry reports and audits, a number of which are not available, and as a result the people who need to learn from the outcomes of those inquiries and reports, including social workers, do not get the opportunity to do that. In governance and strategic responses, we need to learn, as has been referenced already, from the developments of recent decades on child welfare and protection, not just insofar as the legislation is concerned but also in terms of the structures and strategic approaches. In that, I strongly urge that the unique social work voice and expertise need to be recognised and incorporated because it is valuable and it is currently under-recognised in that area.

I will give two examples. First, in the child protection and welfare area we have learned and put in place a good system as far as governance and strategic planning and so on are concerned in the way the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth operates vis-à-visTusla and so on. From a social work point of view there is a head social worker in Tusla and a chief social worker in the Department, which means that at both an operational and strategic level the voice of social workers, among others, is heard. Second is my experience from the criminal justice area. I was the director of the Irish Probation Service for seven years and I am a registered social worker. On the operational and other responsibilities for that national team the buck stopped with me operationally. At a strategic level I also had a significant input, on behalf of the organisation, to the development of policy and strategy and so on, which was set from within the Department. That is lacking in the area we are talking about and it needs to be addressed.

Some of the specific areas we have referenced are that we need mandatory training in adult safeguarding for all HSE personnel. As I mentioned earlier, there is no general strategy for social work at a national level in Ireland or for workforce planning. We need stronger links between adult safeguarding and protection, social work teams and An Garda Síochána. That could and should happen quickly. We also need home care legislation to establish a right to home care package.

The last point I will make is about measures that could and should be taken urgently. Data and research are grossly lacking in the field of adult safeguarding in Ireland. I refer in particular to learning from research that fully takes on board and asks for the voice of the service users and their families. We have a gulf in and a dearth of research in that area. That should be rectified straight away. That would inform how things will develop in the future.