Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I agree that we must deal with this important issue. There are 718 social workers dedicated to this area and 20,000 referrals per year, which amounts to 30 referrals per case worker, on average. I know that the same case levels do not apply everywhere but the figures give an indication that the level of resources are such that we should not be ending up with the types of cases the Deputy raised.

One of the problems is the need to reach agreement with the professional care services to put an out-of-hours service in place. That is part of the ongoing problem here. I am not in any way seeking to hide behind statistics. I am simply making the point that if we have 718 social workers dedicated in this area, with 20,000 referrals per year, one would not expect to see the delays the Deputy is suggesting exist in respect of serious cases. Deputy Gilmore has acknowledged that there is a general pool assessment which must take place first, which dictates what cases need immediate care and attention because they are serious and the persons involved are at risk.

There are other risk issues which are not quite so serious that must be dealt with in the context of the extended family environment in which the child lives. In the past, that was not the case. It has been suggested that best practice is to continue along the current path of delivering a community-based service, through family support mechanisms rather than just dealing with the individual child in respect of the particular issue that arose. That is deemed to be the best way of not only dealing with the specific problem but also of meeting the needs of the child on an ongoing basis. That is what the Office of the Minister for Children is doing. There is a general recognition that the Office of the Minister for Children has been one of the cross-cutting areas that has worked better than most in terms of how the Government is addressing this issue now. In the past it was dealt with disparately by the Departments of Health and Children, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Education and Science.

While I do not deny that the problems outlined exist, I am simply making the point that it is not a question of old ways being tried here which are failing. There are new, progressive, best practice methods being implemented, through the joined-up process to which I referred. I have spoken about the extra staff who have been put in place in recent years. I have also spoken about the case load, which would suggest to me that we should not be experiencing the level of problems highlighted.

The Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, is taking up this matter tomorrow. He will determine why some situations are arising, like those referred to by Deputy Gilmore, in view of the level resources being applied and the number of personnel available to deal with the issue.

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