Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I understand the efforts that are being made and that there is a team in place. However, we are talking about extremely vulnerable children. The targets would not exist if there were not an understanding that they are required. When people who work in this particularly stressful and difficult job are contending with understaffing, their work becomes more stressful. It becomes a vicious cycle in respect of being able to retain staff when they are dealing with such pressurised work along with inadequate staffing. I urge the Minister to consider whether there may be other ways of recruiting. The recruitment efforts may need to be rejuvenated in some way. We have to ensure we have an adequate number of social workers.

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