James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McLellan has asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer some of them. The number of cases of children awaiting allocation of a social worker has decreased over 2014.

Tusla's figures for Cork indicate a decrease of 26% in the overall number and, in the number of high-priority cases, a decrease of two thirds. The source for this is "Measuring the Pressure". However, people are still waiting, and we will continue to endeavour over the coming months to ensure that this does not remain the case.

The Deputy asked about the recruitment process. Many initiatives are under way to address the issue of our social worker complement. We are actively recruiting 218 this year. I do not have a further update for the Deputy but if I get it I will pass it on to her.

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