Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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115. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children that are currently waiting to be allocated a social worker; the number of these that are high priority and emergency; if he will provide a breakdown in tabular format of the number of each of these that have been waiting for less than six months, between six months and one year, between one year and 18 months, between 18 months and two years and longer than two years; the number of social workers that are employed at present; the number of these that are on maternity leave; his plans to address the shortfalls; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2189/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As of November 2014, the Child and Family Agency has advised that a total of 19,988 children were in receipt of a dedicated social work service. A further 8,451 cases did not have an allocated social worker.

Of these 8,451 cases, 2,844 were deemed to be high priority. Of the 8,451 children who do not have an allocated social worker, 5,347 have been waiting longer than three months for a social worker to be allocated to them. Of these 1,774, are deemed to be high priority. These cases represent a mix of new referrals that need further assessment and social work input, as well as children known to the Agency who need a continuing social work service. I am assured by the Agency that emergency cases continue to be dealt with immediately, for instance a child who has been abandoned or is in immediate physical danger or at immediate risk of sexual abuse and that high priority cases are kept under review.

At the end of November, 2014 there were 1,403 whole time equivalent social workers employed by the Agency representing 40% of its overall workforce. A total of 84 social workers were on maternity leave. The impact of vacancies on service provision is risk-assessed on an on-going basis to ensure that social work team numbers do not fall below what is considered necessary to provide a safe service.

The Child and Family Agency is taking a number of initiatives to address staff shortfalls:

- Continuing recruitment, with 155 social workers recruited since the Agency was established, and a further 193 posts currently in the recruitment process;

- The introduction of a pilot Maternity Leave Scheme whereby temporary staff can be offered a 12 month contract to cover maternity leave;

- In recognition of the challenging nature of this work, new entrants and graduates have a reduced workload for their first year, with opportunities for regular supervision with experienced practitioners;

- The roll out of a caseload management system to ensure caseloads are manageable and prioritised appropriately.

For the Deputy's information, I have set out in tabular format, the total number of children in receipt of social work services broken down by those who have been allocated a social worker, those who are awaiting allocation to a social worker and their associated priority levels as at November 2014. Also included are details of the length of time children have been waiting for allocation to a social worker and their associated priority level.

The Agency has advised that it collects the relevant data in a standardised manner and not in the format as requested by the Deputy.

Breakdown of Allocation by Priority