Dáil debates

Tuesday, 22 October 2019

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions

Child and Family Agency Staff

7:40 pm

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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61. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to ensure that children using Tusla services will have the benefit of a long-term social worker; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43267/19]

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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66. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the use by Tusla of agency social worker staff; and if she will be taking steps to assist Tusla in hiring additional social workers. [43239/19]

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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82. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to ensure that Tusla increases the number of permanently employed social workers as opposed to using agency staff; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43266/19]

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Continuity of care is the central aspect of this question, in the sense of a child being able to rely on having consistency and the same social worker being available to him or her. There seems to be an increased reliance on agency workers whereby there is more than a doubling of the number of agency workers. It is up 125% over the last four years while at the same time there is only a 3% increase in the number of permanent staff being taken on. Can the Minister outline how she is going to provide consistency to children who are dealing with social workers? Is she going to put further emphasis on permanent staff?

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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 I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 66 and 82 together.

I am very much aware that the ideal for the continuity of care of vulnerable children is to have a long-term social worker available when required. Tusla has taken a proactive approach to the recruitment of social workers in a difficult and challenging recruitment environment. We covered this a bit with Deputy Broughan. There is a worldwide shortage of social workers and this was noted by HIQA in its report on 19 June 2018. Tusla is competing with the HSE and the voluntary and private sectors. Tusla has advised me that recruitment efforts to 31 August 2019 are ahead of target for social work with a total  figure of 149 hires. This has resulted in an increase of social workers by 64 whole-time equivalents when attrition is taken into account.

I share the concerns expressed by Deputies regarding the increased use of temporary agency social workers in recent years and I have communicated this to Tusla. I also appreciate the attention that the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs has given the issue as part of its deliberations on the recruitment and retention of social workers in Tusla. Notwithstanding this, Tusla must deploy agency workers to ensure it can continue to provide its services to vulnerable children and their families at a time when overall referrals are increasing. I understand that Tusla is currently reviewing agency use. I am informed that formal discussions will take place with Fórsa on 29 October 2019 regarding a proposal to carry out an agency conversion across front-line service. I welcome this initiative.

I will be raising the issue of agency staff in my performance statement to Tusla, which will issue next month, as a key input to its business plan for 2020. Tusla currently spends approximately €31 million annually on agency staff. I am setting it a target of reducing this spend, primarily through the conversion of agency staff to permanent staff. I also requested that Tusla develop a strategic multi-annual workforce plan, which would include reflection of the labour market and the current limited supply of social workers. I am pleased that Tusla now has a strategic workforce planning model which I understand will be rolled out over the coming years. The implementation of the strategic workforce planning model will represent a very significant change for Tusla and its service delivery teams in 17 geographical areas. The model will increase and formalise the use of social care workers on child protection teams. The model should also reflect the realities of the labour market supply and ensure that social workers are supported by appropriate complementary grades. I refer again to Deputy Broughan's questions earlier. The model will also seek to deliver on a strategic focus for Tusla with a gradual transition to multidisciplinary teams. The multidisciplinary teams will look to consist of the optimum mix of skills across social work, social care, therapeutic staff, family support, education welfare and administrative support.

Tusla Recruit has also informed me that it has a very special, proactive approach to recruitment  with 16 social work-specific campaigns, for example a rolling campaign for professionally qualified social workers; the social work graduate programme designed to recruit new graduates; social work team lead; senior social work practitioner; and principal social worker. I welcome the fact that there is a focus on recruitment and retention as part of the roll-out of the strategic workforce implementation plan, assisting staff well-being by assessing workplace stressors and critical incident exposure in the workplace.

My Department has also taken an initiative to establish the social work education group which provides a forum for Tusla and other stakeholders, including the HSE and the Probation Service, to explore and act upon possible actions to influence the future supply of social workers.

The first priority identified by the group is the streamlining of student placements. My Department has commissioned research to identify alternative approaches to streamlining the process of working with stakeholders. A final report is due shortly and potential next steps will be considered. The social work education group also provides a perfect platform for Tusla to bring forward creative ideas for initiatives such as conversion courses to train existing social care workers as social workers. These are just some of the ideas that are coming forward.

7:50 pm

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.

Trust and the relationship with social workers are a significant key aspect of their role for the child and for getting results for them. I am pleased with the proposal to convert agency staff to permanent staff. There has been an emphasis on agency staff over the past while, with a 126% growth in the agency staff sector but only 3% growth in permanent staff. Can the Minister set out a timeline for when she might expect to have a full complement with everyone on board and the number? Can she also keep me updated on the ongoing talks and the plan that is in place?

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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What timeline is the Deputy referring to?

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The timeline as to when the Minister would have the conversions completed and everybody in place with a full complement of staff.

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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That is the current hope and intention of Tusla and its CEO. We have had exchanges as well on the issue of agency staff. The CEO conducted an introductory engagement with Fórsa last week during which he mentioned his hope of a once-off blanket agency conversion, which received a very positive response. A formal meeting with Fórsa and the human resources, HR, department of Tusla is scheduled early next week to take a look at exploring the detail of beginning a major conversion process. Tusla currently has 677 agency staff engaged. While we cannot predict the outcome, I understand from the CEO that he is hopeful that there will be a significant result from the initial conversion work. This would be a significant change and many of the technical details and aspects of that kind of process of change will have to be interrogated and agreed with other Departments as well.

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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That is a comprehensive response, with welcome steps noted. Can the Minister clarify if she has a targeted timeline as to when she expects to have those people on board? Will it be in the next six months or year or is there a broad outline?

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I do not have an exact timeline at the moment to offer the Deputy. Part of my discussions with Tusla will be to identify the possibility of putting one in place, particularly as we go back and forth on the performance statement. We will keep the Deputy informed.