Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the action she will take to address the situation whereby social work teams are considerably understaffed resulting in lengthy delays for children in need of their services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38725/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the challenges facing our child welfare and protection services and the pressures facing social work teams around the country. The service is operating in a climate of increased demand, particularly in the area of child neglect. Since 2006 the number of referrals on child protection and welfare reports has almost doubled from 21,000 in 2006 to 40,000 in 2012. It is not that long ago when there were 240 referrals to child protection services in one year. The increase in 2012 was almost 10,000 above the 2011 level. In addition, the numbers of children in care have increased by 21% from 5,307 in 2007 to 6,421 as of April 2013. By international standards, the numbers of children in care are relatively low. They do not exceed international norms and we have the advantage that most of our children in care are in foster homes as opposed to residential settings. That situation has been reversed dramatically in recent years.

The latest HSE employment census indicates that the number of whole-time equivalent social workers employed in the HSE children and families service area was 1,397 at the end of June 2013. The census numbers reflect the outcome of a process of re-classification of social workers within the HSE into individual care groups, including children and families, to support the process of establishing the new Child and Family Agency.

Child Welfare and Protection services have faced particular challenges in recent months arising from a high number of vacancies due to maternity leave and, to a lesser degree, sick leave. In response to these pressures a new panel of professionally qualified social workers was established in June 2013 to allow for the filling of vacancies in social work teams. I am advised that the HSE has recently filled 114 vacancies, with a further 102 posts are at various stages in the recruitment process. Implementation of the provisions of the Haddington Road agreement will also assist HSE Children and Families in responding to current demand through additional working hours, revision of overtime arrangements, flexible working arrangements, revised work practices and other initiatives. It is important to note also that due to the importance of child welfare and protection responsibilities the current recruitment moratorium does not apply to the social worker grade.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

All Child Protection and Welfare referrals are managed through the HSE children and families standardised business process. Such reports of concern for the safety and well-being of a child come into the duty intake team for assessment. All staff receiving such a referral are trained in the duty system and are obliged to treat seriously all child welfare and child protection concerns whatever their source. Once a child protection referral is received and screened by the HSE, a decision will be taken as to whether an initial assessment is required. Following initial assessment decisions will be made on the type of intervention required, including drawing up a child protection plan and family support interventions, as well as decisions regarding supervision orders or whether a child may need to be taken into care for a short term or longer period. The child protection plan will have identified the key risk factors in the case such as the risk itself; how it will be reduced, including specific actions; and how the agencies working with the family will measure the reduced risk within a specific time-scale. A supervision order is sought from the courts if the family does not co-operate with the child protection plan.

As part of the reform process within children and family services, the development of the local area pathway approach is an important new tool. This approach is about the creation of a collaborative network of community, voluntary and statutory providers so as to improve access to support services for children and their families and the operation of a case co-ordination process for families with additional need who require multi-agency intervention but who do not meet the threshold for referral to social work after screening at intake. In addition to the identification of needs process in Sligo-Leitrim and the Limerick identification needs process, a number of areas in the country are advancing their implementation of the local area pathway model, including. Waterford and Carlow-Kilkenny.

The above initiatives are illustrative of the substantial programme of work underway to increase the effectiveness of our child protection services in meeting growing demand due to demographic and societal factors.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. If the moratorium does not apply to social work posts, why are there so many vacancies and why are vacancies created by maternity leave not being filled? The reason is probably that local health managers are deciding not to recruit in order to keep budgets down. I am aware that physiotherapists are also exempt from the moratorium but local management in County Donegal have decided not to recruit for these positions in order to keep costs down. It is a serious matter given that more than 4,000 children are waiting three months or more for their cases to be dealt with and for social workers to be assigned. The Irish Association of Social Workers suggests that 2,900 social workers are required to deal with current caseloads. It is vital that these positions are recruited because although the service is prioritising cases and arguing that the children who are waiting longer are not high risk, these are the very children who might benefit from early intervention. We run the danger of children being kept in dangerous situations because they are deemed not to be a priority even though early intervention could save them from harm.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge the Deputy's point. The age and gender profile of social workers mean that their numbers are constantly in flux. Recruitment is ongoing, however. The Deputy asked a valid question about maternity leave given that the workforce is young and largely female. One area in County Kildare recently had nine vacancies because of maternity leave. This issue probably also arises in other areas. I have asked that a panel be created in order to fill those positions on a temporary basis. Clearly that will have implications for other sectors, however, and I have entered discussions to determine whether the posts can be filled more rapidly. The vacancies puts considerable pressures on teams. Studies on the problem of retaining social workers have been carried out all over Europe. I recently attended a launch of one such study in UCD.

Very often we find inexperienced social workers working on the front line. To answer the question, it is not simply about filling vacancies, although that is extremely important. We have a complement which includes the 170 extra posts that were filled in line with the Ryan report. There has not been a delay and it has been done over the past two years. We have an ongoing issue with retention of staff. It is not just about the vacancies; it is about supporting staff and working with voluntary organisations. Much work is going on, and in reply to a later question I will discuss the work being done to train social workers, give them more support and have better management. The HIQA reports highlight other areas that need attention.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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The difficulty with the retention of social workers probably equates to the workload they have and the fact that the teams are so badly understaffed. Last year when the children's referendum was passed, the Minister stated that it was the start of a process and that we would show through our actions in the coming years how committed we were to the change that had taken place. We must deal with the issue of recruitment and ensure vulnerable children are protected. The recruitment process must ensure demands are met. The Minister must press on very urgently to ensure these demands can be met and fight for and obtain the extra numbers required.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There is a question about case work management which must be answered, and that is how many high-risk cases can be carried by any one social worker in a team. A review of the social work caseload is under way which involves management and staff union input. I eagerly await the results to see precisely what is being stated about the caseloads Irish social workers carry, whether it is a question of extra resources or more social workers, and what are the best ways to handle the demands being made on them.

This morning I attended the children services committees' day-long networking event. The development of the children services committees in every county, including Donegal, is very important in co-ordinating and managing resources at county level so that child protection and family support is not just left to child and family support services but there is integration and other services are involved. If a case is not allocated within a social worker team it does not mean the family does not receive a social work service from other organisations such as family support and family resource centres.