Mr. Ger Brophy:

On the caseload and the numbers of cases, it is hard to have a consistent number because each case depends on the intensity of the case, the number of children involved or the intensity of that child's individual needs. Tusla has developed a caseload management system over the past eight or nine years. We have worked out this system with front-line practitioners where each social worker, with his or her team leader, works out what is a manageable caseload for that particular worker and then we monitor that in terms of manageable and unmanageable caseloads. That is what we are doing to measure whether caseloads are manageable or not.

The Senator also asked a question about the reunification of families, how important that is and providing support for parents. That is a subject that is dear to my heart. We have made great efforts with the introduction of Signs of Safety, which has been a significant move on this. In this, we are involving the networks of families in supporting parents to create safety for children.

It is not just that we want a family member to come in with a parent, for example, but we want parents to actively get friends and family - people who they trust and know, and who are their allies - to be involved in creating safety for children. We will work with that network with the parent.

There is a process involved with this and a series of steps in the Signs of Safety model, including the creation of danger statements and safety goals. We work with children and we use the three houses method to get their views and incorporate them into the process as well. It is a very complex system but it is certainly one in which we are working really hard to work with parents so we can include parents in their own solutions and the creation of safety for their own children.