Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to report that the number of allocated social workers has increased over the past three years. The figures have improved substantially. There was a slight drop in 2011 but that can be partially explained by the difficulties surrounding resources arising from earlier budget reductions. I do not have figures on temporary and permanent positions but all 260 of the social workers I committed to recruiting are now in place. The number has increased and 86 additional social workers have now been employed. We have seen a welcome increase in the proportion of children in care with an allocated social worker to 93%, compared to 83% in 2009. In some of the cases where a social worker has not been allocated the children are with relatives.

See this speech in context