Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his detailed response. I know he understands the issues facing Tusla in general and the issues facing special care in particular. The issues we see in special care are replicated in other parts of Tusla. There is a challenge in terms of recruitment and I appreciate that.

The agency conversion aspect the Minister spoke of has been incredibly important in terms of retention and staff morale. It is an excellent thing, for a variety of reasons. It needs to be supported and continued. The outreach to students he mentioned is useful and important. Special care is a challenging place to work, but it can be very rewarding and is a unique place to work. It is positive for students to work there in the way the Minister set out.

However, partly because of special care's challenges people need special skills. A student who does not have the necessary support from an experienced social care leader will struggle and could be in a position of doing more harm than good to themselves. We know we need consistency and positive relationships in social work. These are things that improve matters and help the most. That is helped by staff retention and having as many full-time and whole-time staff as possible. The best way to do that is to create a special care allowance. As I said, such allowances have worked well in nursing and other professions. Social care leaders and workers working in this special, difficult and challenging environment should receive a special care allowance.

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