Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

That funding will be applied to the recruitment of 200 additional social workers. Any fair analysis of this situation will show that I am absolutely committed to the delivery of improved compliance with the Children First guidelines. That is central to the taskforce on the standardisation of business processes. It is central to our commitment in the last budget to the roll-out of additional social workers and to the entire framework for the implementation plan following the Ryan report. The Children First guidelines are in and of themselves robust. We must not only ensure compliance on a statutory footing with those guidelines but also ensure the capacity to audit the various sectors with responsibility for their delivery.

In regard to the case of Daniel McAnaspie, I join with everybody in the House in expressing our deepest regret to his family on the tragedy that has befallen them. I understand the Deputy intends to raise this matter on the Adjournment. We will provide further details of our response at that time.

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