Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said there was no reduction in social workers. While that may be true, many fewer children were referred or known to the care system five years ago than today. That is because there is now a greater emphasis and sense of priority in terms of ensuring that people at risk are referred to the care system.

What research and analysis has been carried out to ensure that we have a sufficient number of social workers working in the care system? The latest figures show that more than 8,000 cases of abuse, neglect and welfare concerns in respect of children at risk are waiting to be allocated a social worker. The most recently published HIQA report on social services in Cork set out that more than 230 children assessed as being at high risk of harm did not have an allocated social worker. HIQA also found that 1,167 of 4,926 children had no allocated social worker. We have a problem with the number of social workers working in our service.

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