Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Of course we need good quality front-line social workers. A point often missed in this debate is the calibre of social workers. It is not always a question of university degrees. Many quality people who work in the community would make excellent social workers but they do not necessarily have to have high points or university degrees. Recently I have met some mature students who have gone back to Trinity College Dublin to do social care and get involved in social work. These are the kind of people we need to deal with children at risk and those who are outside the system. Personality is a key part of the social care services.

There is a worrying trend at the moment of self-harm among boys. According to the 2013 annual report of the National Registry of Deliberate Self-Harm, hundreds of children between the ages of ten and 14 years required hospital treatment for self-inflicted injuries.

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