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

I thank the Deputy for her important questions. I will address the issue of unallocated cases first. Then I will deal with the recruitment of social workers.

In February Tusla had 4,756 cases waiting for the allocation of a social worker. This has fallen from the 4,892 cases in December 2017, as referred to by the Deputy. This is consistent with the general downward trend in unallocated cases and represents a marked improvement on the 10,000 cases that were unallocated when Tusla was established in 2014. We have more work to do in this regard. I assure the Deputy that reducing the number of unallocated cases is a key priority for me and for Tusla. I support Tusla's efforts in this regard but I am not satisfied with the progress.

Tusla provides monthly performance and activity figures to my Department, including the numbers of new referrals and cases allocated and unallocated. There is an increasing number of referrals being made to child welfare and protection services year on year, so the decrease in unallocated cases has to be measured against this increasing demand for Tusla services. I have been assured that all urgent and emergency cases notified to Tusla are dealt with immediately.

We know the solution to this problem. Addressing the shortage of social workers will reduce the number of unallocated cases. Tusla is in its third year of a three-year plan to recruit social workers. The additional €40 million that I secured for Tusla in 2018 will help to support that plan. Despite Tusla's vigorous recruitment efforts, however, the rate of progress in increasing the overall number of social workers is disappointing.

I can inform the Deputy that of the 266 posts recently filled by Tusla, 157 are social work positions. Tusla expects these candidates to start work in the second quarter of this year. It must be understood, however, that the majority of these new staff will be replacing staff who have been promoted, retired or who have left the service. This indicates some of the challenges facing Tusla.

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