Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also have a question about Tusla in the context of the recruitment of social workers, because they are clearly under pressure. The figures show that there were 57 fewer social workers in recent years, with the number dropping from 1,669 in 2021 to 612 the following year. Again, there is an issue here in relation to staff recruitment, staff training and the workforce supply pipeline. What is the Department doing in this regard? I understand that the Department has many irons in the fire. I would say it has too many because the Department has been handed many different areas to deal with. Is this specific issue being dealt with? If we are not training sufficient numbers of social workers, then there is a problem. Equally, if they are not coming out of this training with career prospects ahead of them, they will be on a plane out of here or gone off to the private sector or somewhere else.