Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be happy to supply the Deputy with the details, but I do not have the specific information to hand. Picking up on his point about the system in place in England, I will also be happy to compare this jurisdiction with others, although I do not necessarily agree with him on the matter. The fact is that Tusla has been able to retain social workers. The current turnover rate is approximately 7%, which is very good, although we would obviously prefer it to be lower. Tusla is working on this, with particular reference to the retention programmes I have mentioned.

I understand the reason the Deputy is raising the issue of people working in the area of child protection. I have been encouraging Tusla to show leadership. Yes, we need social workers and to make their working environment more conducive. I have tried to identify some of the ways in which the organisation is supporting its staff in tha regard. At the same time, however, we need to move forward plans to ensure the mix of staff working in the area of child protection is the right one in order that social workers, social care workers, administrators and front-line staff are doing the jobs they have been trained to do. That will make the system more efficient.

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