Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the plans she is working on to address the shortfall of active on-duty social workers in child protection services and to reduce the large number of at-risk children who are not allocated a social worker in a timely manner after the initial assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14860/16]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Rabbitte is taking this question on behalf of Deputy Cahill.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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What plans is the Department of Children and Youth Affairs working on at present to address the shortfall of active on-duty social workers in child protection services and to reduce the large number of at-risk children who are not allocated a social worker in a timely manner after the initial assessment?

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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As part of its budget submission for 2016, Tusla identified a need for extra staffing to meet critical service concerns, including children with no allocated social worker. Funding of €6.1 million was allocated to Tusla for this purpose. Tusla has set a target of a net increase of 168 social workers by the end of 2016. It will be important to recruit other grades as well to ensure an efficient service with the right mix of staffing, including family support staff and administrative support.

Tusla has been proactive in its efforts to meet its recruitment targets in a competitive environment for professional staff. Progress is being made, and at the end of April 2016, an additional 110 social workers were employed directly by Tusla compared with the same period in 2015. Tusla has also established its own in-house recruitment team, Tusla Recruit, which has engaged directly with third level institutions to promote Tusla as an employer of choice. While it is still early days, this approach appears to be working, with more than 290 expressions of interest in response to a recent graduate campaign. Tusla will commence interviewing these graduates during the summer.

I assure the Deputy that all urgent and emergency child protection cases are dealt with immediately. Cases that are unallocated are closely monitored, supported and managed by the duty social work team under the supervision of the principal social worker. Unallocated cases are often cases where a child has just come into care and is awaiting allocation of a social worker, or where a child is in a very stable fostering placement, provided perhaps by a relative.

Cases are subject to ongoing reviews and, where appropriate, the level and nature of support being provided will change depending on the needs of the child. Tusla has advised me that there was a significant reduction of 17% in the number of open cases awaiting allocation of a social worker at the end of March 2016 compared to December 2015.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister and I welcome her response. However, from talking to some Tusla staff members in Dublin I am concerned that they have a problem with holding on to staff because the workload is so heavy. I would like to know what is Tusla's level of staff retention. I do not remember the exact figure, the Minister said some 100 were recruited in the year to date. Are these positions temporary or permanent and how many are senior personnel within the organisation?

Reference was made to children who are high, medium and low risk. I hope the 1,300 children who are in the high-risk category are getting full attention. However, medium to low-risk children are potentially high risk for future because of the current position regarding recruitment by Tusla. Some 25% of referrals have yet to be allocated a social worker across many of the areas and approximately 50% in Dublin. This is a huge concern and I am sure the Minister understands the problem. I know she is meeting representatives from Tusla but perhaps the Minister could clarify if this could be expedited so a full workforce could be recruited to use up the €6 million?

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I thank Deputy Rabbitte for her excellent questions. I will certainly refer back to many of them. With regard to the efforts to recruit and retain staff, especially social workers, Tusla has an in-house recruitment function. It is reducing recruitment timelines and is identifying bottlenecks and working, where appropriate, with the national recruitment service of the HSE. Tusla is proactively engaging with third level institutions and overseas recruiters. It is also developing an employee assistance programme and managing caseloads, which is a very proactive measure. In addition, there is an internal staff transfer policy in place across Tusla to facilitate geographical mobility. The HSE does not have that facility. We are ensuring that staff have the appropriate ICT equipment and infrastructure to support their work.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire is taking Question No. 8 on behalf of Deputy Brian Stanley.