Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

The HSE provided for the recruitment of an additional 62 social workers in 2011. The recruitment process is being managed by the HSE national recruitment service. The executive indicated in December 2011 that all of these posts had been either filled or accepted. I am advised by the HSE that 51 individuals have taken up duty with the remainder expected to come on stream in the coming weeks. Obviously, individuals must serve out notice in jobs they hold already. My Department will continue to monitor the position closely in terms of recruitment of additional personnel.

The additional social workers are being targeted at priority areas of the service having regard to an overall assessment of workload undertaken by the national director and his team. The recruitment of the additional social workers is one element of a wider change agenda within the HSE, through which we can deliver better outcomes for children and families. This reform agenda will lead to the establishment of a new child and family support agency which will provide a dedicated focus on child protection and support families in need.

The latest information from the HSE indicates that 31 social work staff retired in February. While this number is relatively low in the overall context, it will, none the less, require a considered management response by the HSE. In this context, the national director of children and families services, Mr. Gordon Jeyes, will apply his discretion over the course of the year to the filling of vacancies, subject to this not compromising the achievement of employment targets and subject to services being provided within available resources.

I am conscious, as Members would be, of the financial and service challenges facing the HSE in 2012. This is the case across all care groups. These challenges are such as to require an acceleration of the reform programme which is a central element of the wider programme of reform for child and family services, including the establishment of a new and dedicated children and family support agency to which the Government is fully committed.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

My Department will be working very closely with the HSE throughout the year to ensure that the priorities set out in the HSE national service plan are implemented where they relate to children and family services. We have set an ambitious programme of work which is designed to strengthen the policy, legislative and practice framework significantly. Our shared goal is the delivery of appropriate, effective and consistent services, notwithstanding the challenging and demanding circumstances in which these services are delivered.

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