Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is definitely the last. Tusla is required to produce reports on the adequacy of services, and things like that. However, we have seen, when representatives have been in here and we have asked them about the number of social workers Tusla needs, that there is no workforce planning. There is no demand anticipation, which would help with a target for the number of social workers and foster carers that need to be recruited. I think that as well as the legislative requirement for independent advocacy for both children in care and for parents, some element of workforce planning and demand anticipation is required, whether that is done through the corporate planning process that happens between the Department and Tusla. We need to ensure that those two bits are happening. That is the research that we are all talking about needing. I will definitely leave it there.