Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The programme last night was shocking. One of the most shocking things about it was that it was not the first time we have heard about this problem. A review of the HSE's child services published in the newspapers on 21 April 2008 reported exactly the same thing. It told us that there was a waiting list of 374 social work cases in the north Dublin area that had not been properly assessed. It said that in central Dublin, some children are waiting up to a year to be allocated a social worker. It said that at risk children were waiting for three and a half years in County Kerry for services such as psychiatric support. It went on to give the litany of the degree to which this service is not functioning.

The Taoiseach says that progress is being made. It is very difficult to square that with what people on the ground are saying. A couple of weeks ago, the Garda Representative Association told us that it is virtually impossible to get a social worker out of hours. The same can be said by doctors, teachers and people who are at the frontline coming into contact with and identifying these problems for referral in the first place.

We need to hear what is to be done about the problems highlighted in the programme last night and that have already been reported by the HSE. First, what will be done to provide an adequate out of hours service? Social work is not a Monday to Friday, nine to five service. In particular, it needs to be available out of hours when many of the problems arise in the first place. What will be done to provide an out of hours service?

Second, as I understand it, the embargo on the recruitment of staff, which is at the heart of much of this problem, is operating on a region to region basis. The HSE is supposed to be a national organisation but, in practice, the same embargo operates in a region with almost a full complement of social workers as in a region which has only half a complement. What will be done to deal with that aspect?

The Taoiseach identified that there are referrals and urgent referrals. The content of the television programme was that the top priority cases are not being seen. They are still in the filing cabinet drawers because the staff or resources are not available to see them.

The Taoiseach made an oblique reference to the possibility of other types of interventions or supports being provided to children at risk but what does he say to a teacher, doctor or member of the Garda Síochána who comes across a case about which he or she is concerned but who knows now that if it is referred on to the social services, through the HSE, the case might be waiting for a very long time before anybody takes a look at it?

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