Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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508. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to set out in tabular form the number of social workers hired in each year since 2014. [27743/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla has advised that the gross number of new social workers hired each year since 2014 is as follows:

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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509. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of Tusla's recruitment plan for 2018; the position regarding the targets for the additional administrative and ancillary staff planned to relieve the administrative burden on social workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27744/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am advised by Tusla that its in-house recruitment function, Tusla Recruit, is working to a recruitment plan in 2018 and will submit its finalised 2018 Recruitment Plan to my Department by the end of this month.

The Plan will provide a full breakdown by grade of the more than 400 posts provided for as part of Tusla’s 2018 funding that increased by €40.6 m this year and has increased by €144 m since the establishment of the Agency in 2014.

I am very supportive of Tusla's commitment to continue to prioritise the recruitment of clerical/admin grades in 2018. The deployment of clerical/admin support is essential to ensure that social workers can focus on their core professional tasks. With regard to clerical/admin recruitment specifically, I am advised that the final 2018 Recruitment Plan will show a recruitment target of in excess of 150 whole time equivalent additional clerical/admin staff.

Furthermore, Tusla is developing a Multi-annual Strategic Workforce Plan to identify the future composition of Tusla’s workforce for 2019 and beyond. This will build on the 2018 Recruitment Plan and I expect to receive this in Q4, 2018. The development of a Multi-annual Strategic Workforce Plan is a complex task as it needs to support the delivery of Tusla’s priorities and encompass a range of activities aimed at addressing Tusla’s short, medium and long term needs and to manage the current challenges Tusla faces recruiting and retaining certain key grades.