John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. On that last point, I would be interested to know if Tusla is actively engaged in trying to recruit Irish graduates who are overseas. We are all public representatives and we are all social workers with a small s and w, and we deal with people who are often at the most difficult times in their lives. I understand it when the Minister says that unallocated cases still receive social work support. I know he understands the point. In his comments, he spoke about the link that can be established between a long-term social worker who is attached to a specific case and a child or a foster family. That leads to good relationships and, I would argue, probably also to better outcomes for children and foster families.

In conclusion, I acknowledge that Tusla has taken remedial action but the figure of 30 unallocated cases in Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary is way too high. I thank the Minister for stating he is going to respond directly and follow up on some of the points that have been raised. I also ask him to ask Tusla, when it is dealing with recruitment, to identify graduates in different parts of the sciences who left the country in the last number of years, before Covid and before travel restrictions were implemented. I am sure some, though not all, would be very interested in a long-term career in social work and employment with Tusla in the State.

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