Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I completely agree with the Deputy's point about consistency. One of the things that has arisen during my time in this office is that a significant number of social workers and social care workers are care-experienced themselves. Knowing the benefit they got from it, they want to give something back. Not everyone is entirely suited to a purely academic route. Looking at developing that idea of an apprenticeship model is something that Tusla in particular is very conscious of. It sees this group of people as a potential source for recruitment.

I will revert to the Deputy with more detail. It is something Tusla sees as a serious offer, which is why it has been designing some of its bursaries to take away some of the cost pressures on people looking to retrain.

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