Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Minister has written to Tusla about this and that funding is available. It is becoming increasingly clear that it is not simply a question of funding, although funding is crucial. The difficulty in retention seems, in large part, to be due to the fact not only that the work is traumatic, difficult and challenging, but also that social workers are dealing with extraordinary caseloads and that the related stress is making it very difficult to retain social workers. Therefore, imaginative solutions will be required. However, perhaps there is an element of Tusla's own management and support for the social workers needing to be improved.

My understanding is that the plans to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect have been delayed until later this year, which is, I believe, a year later than initially planned. Is this simply due to the difficulty in retaining social workers and having adequate resources, or is there a change in policy? Is the Government still committed to implementing the policy?

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