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

I will revert to the Deputy on the last question because I do not have those details with me. I will communicate directly with her on those 60 posts. The 2014 budget included an additional €12 million in a full year to support the ongoing programme of reform of child welfare and protection services. The Deputy is right that there is ongoing pressure on the services. There is no question about that. There is an increase in referrals to child and family services and very complex cases are coming to the fore.

The reform and reorganisation will help with that because we will work more effectively with the NGO sector and the child and family support agency. There will be clearer assessment when cases are referred in the first instance so that if the case is a child protection concern, it will be referred to the child protection team. If it is a family which needs family support, the closer working relationships and the alignment of priorities between the HSE and the NGO sector will mean that families will get better supports.

See this speech in context