Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will make a statement on a situation in Cork where the Health Service Executive have given notice to three temporary social workers who are part of the adoption and fostering team in view of the fact that the reasons given were budgetary constraints and that this will be a devastating blow to a large number of prospective adoptive applicants waiting to be assessed where the present situation is that there is a two and a half year waiting list. [15631/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE) under the Health Act 2004. My understanding is that there has been no change in the staffing levels in the adoption area in Cork. However, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

The Government has allocated additional funding to the HSE in recent years to assist in tackling intercountry adoption waiting times. The HSE has been assessing the provision of services in the context of moving from the health board system to a single executive. It has acknowledged that there is a divergence in the provision of services and is committed to addressing those differences.

The Deputy will be aware that demands for assessment for intercountry adoption are continuously increasing. It should be noted that consequent on the increased number of children coming from abroad, there is also a new and increasing demand for post-adoption reports for sending countries. These are also being undertaken by HSE social work staff.

In a number of areas, the HSE have increased capacity through contract arrangements with non-statutory agencies with appropriate expertise. I have asked my officials to meet with the HSE to explore these and other strategies to increase capacity across the country.