Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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This is the main subhead in terms of the financial allocation. I acknowledge there has been an increase, but I am concerned because last year there was an overrun of €25 million in regard to the new agency. At the lead-in to the budget, the CEO of the agency, Gordon Jeyes, said he would require an additional €45 million for the agency to stand still, but a further €60 million would be required if the agency was to fill the vacant posts and finance essential new developments. In light of this, I have a number of questions.

I have raised the issue of the guardians ad litem,GALs, a number of times. I submitted a parliamentary question last summer on the full year of 2013 and up to August 2014. If the trend continued, the GAL bill would be higher in 2014 than in 2013. I acknowledge this is not an issue of Tusla's making. It is a historical problem, but that said it needs to be addressed. What progress has been made on addressing this situation? It is unbelievable that such large sums of money are being spent on legal representatives.

At the same time, there is a report in The Irish Times, to which the Minister just alluded, on an internal report presented to the board of the Child and Family Agency last week which states,"Backlogs are so acute in some areas that hundreds of extra staff are needed t bring numbers to manageable levels". I emphasise that the report is internal. Unpublished figures show that more than 8,000 abuse, neglect and welfare cases of concern about children at risk are waiting to be allocated a social worker.

What is the situation? Through the last question I asked during questions to the Minister in the Dáil, I raised the issue of the serious shortfall in the number of social workers. I gave the example of a social worker I spoke to who did not even give me her name. She said that instead of feeling they were helping families, social workers now felt they were part of a system that was causing further harm and stress. I asked the Minister in particular about the recruitment process for social workers. The Minister may correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that the approval of a social worker must go before an internal committee which is a working group headed up by Mr. Gordon Jeyes. Even an agency or temporary social worker has to be approved by this committee. Social workers are predominantly female and at an age where they will be taking maternity benefit. If a person gives notice after they feel it is appropriate to state that she is pregnant, the notice to take maternity leave will not be considered by the working group until she actually leaves on maternity leave. That causes a further delay in the appointment of replacement social workers. If that is happening, it is a major issue which is contributing to the problem of so many cases remaining without social workers.

On the Children First legislation, to which the Minister alluded, I welcome the fact that it will come before the committee for debate on Committee and Final Stages. I hope the Minister will take some of our amendments on board. The Minister said he will not sign the commencement order for the legislation until there is a proper lead-in time, which is appropriate. My fear relates to the national vetting legislation about which I asked a question during the Order of Business in the Dáil earlier. The legislation was approved by the Oireachtas 18 months ago but the commencement order has not been signed because, perhaps, of the financial implications of doing so. Are we going to be in a situation where we will not be able to put into effect the Children First legislation which will make the reporting of child abuse mandatory? Is the Minister sure that sufficient resources are being allocated under this head to permit the legislation to be passed and commenced this year?

I have raised the school completion programme with the Minister on a number of occasions, most recently before Christmas as a Topical Issue matter. The Minister can correct me if I am wrong but it appears the programme does not have its own head in the Estimates. It falls under the Child and Family Agency. There is a worry that this means it does not have the same priority and may be diluted into the future. If this is a mere perception, the Minister might say so. Preschool inspection services fall under this head also. A further inspection is being approved by the Department of Education and Skills and I wonder if there is a duplication of work at a time when resources are very limited. We should not be duplicating what we should be streamlining. We should ensure that one inspector can do the two jobs rather than to hire an additional one.