Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers for children now in place; her target for the end of 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7350/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Figures supplied by the HSE, from its census of employment in the public health and social care sector, indicate that the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) social workers employed in the Children and Families service area was 1438 at the end of December 2012, which is the latest date for which related figures are available. The census numbers reflect the outcome of a process of reclassification of social workers within the HSE into various care groups, including children and families as part of the process of establishing the Child and Family Support Agency.

HSE Children and Family Services will continue to apply discretion to the filling of social work vacancies in 2013, taking account of identified need and subject to services being delivered within available resources.