2026-04-23

145. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason the caseload management system at Tusla has been paused; the protocols in place to ensure that Tusla social workers are not overwhelmed by caseloads; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28218/26]

I want to ask the Minister about the reason the caseload management system at Tusla has been paused and the protocols in place to ensure Tusla's social workers are not overwhelmed by caseloads. We have just heard from Deputy Kerrane in relation to the issues that exist for special care facilities, and the fact there are issues that need to be addressed there that have been made far worse by the show we saw - "RTÉ Investigates". Those most vulnerable children not in appropriate accommodation. While we need more staff as regards social workers and social care workers, we need to ensure they are looked after and that we do not see the huge level of burnout that is happening within the sector at the minute.

Tusla has informed me that it has not paused its case management system. That is the confirmation that I have received from Tusla. Tusla's case management system provides a single integrated case management system that, over time, will be implemented across all Tusla services. This case management system provides a single view of each child, young person, family, care provider and others who are engaged with Tusla. Tusla is improving its case management system. Key to this is the creation of a single record for each child and young person, which supports integrated working, including more streamlined referral and allocation systems for residential care, improved communications, accurate data to improve decision-making on an individual level and resource allocation. In effect, Tusla is building an integrated data environment centred around TCM that will enable the agency to deliver improved integrated reporting by the end of the Tusla's management and digital transformation strategy 2024 to 2026. This strategy was reviewed by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and is aligned with the overall public sector data strategy. Tusla has simplified its standard business processes to reduce inefficiencies and to maximise time with children and families, facilitating more focus on direct contact and relationship building. In 2025, Tusla experienced the largest ever demand for its services, receiving over 106,000 referrals, up 10% compared to 2024, with 96,666 referrals in 2024. Tusla areas prioritise social work resources to children where their knowledge and skill is most required, and then maximising the knowledge and skill of other professions where they can competently respond to children's needs. All of this work continues to be overseen by social work managers. Tusla teams are constantly reviewing their caseloads to ensure that children with the highest priority are allocated as soon as a worker becomes available, while ensuring that children in urgent need of safety are prioritised for allocation. Each referral is screened. Based on the information presented, the referral is prioritised. As new information is received, the referral is reprioritised as required. Measures to reduce caseload pressure in Tusla have focused on recruitment of social work and social care staff at home and abroad, and increasing training places for social work and social care staff.

I ask that the Minister comes back to me in writing in relation to the caseload management system. My information is it has been paused. I accept the answer that the Minister got. In relation to the overall answer she gave, that sounds like a proper operating system. That is how things should operate. We have spoken before about the fact there are not enough social workers. The last figure I had was 1,728 or 1,754, including outsourced agency staff. Gerry Hone from Tusla told us we are 300 short in relation to that. There are 1,422 social care workers, of which we are at least 100 short. We need at least 500 foster carers for the overall system. Not only does the Minister have to look at the issue in relation to special care facilities and those particular issues that are impacting it at the minute that will make it difficult to get away from special emergency accommodation or arrangements but we need to look at the operational situations for social workers and social care workers, ensuring the supports are also given to them so they can they provide the supports because we are losing, at times, some of our best to burnout. In some cases, they are just leaving because it is too difficult.

I am just providing Deputy Ó Murchú the information that was given to me from Tusla. I will ask Tusla to respond directly to his concern. I want there to be 100% clarity on the issue the Deputy raised, and I thank him for raising it. That is the information I have received from Tusla. I will ask Tusla to engage directly with Deputy Ó Murchú on the matter if there is any kind of question or concern around it. I acknowledge that Tusla teams are constantly reviewing their caseloads to ensure that children with the highest priority are allocated as soon as work becomes available, while ensuring that children in urgent need of safety are prioritised for allocation. Each referral is screened and based on the information provided. As I said, the referral is prioritised. Measures to reduce caseload pressure in Tusla have focused on recruitment of social work and social care staff at home and abroad. We have seen an increase of over 3% in the number of social workers and we want more. We are looking at a variety of schemes, whether they are apprenticeship-style schemes or whatever else, to ensure we have sufficient social workers available.

I appreciate the Minister's answer and that she will come back to me in writing in relation to the case management system. We definitely need to ensure we have a system that works. I also acknowledge the work being done in relation to training and recruitment. I ask for information on how many social workers have been recruited, how many we have and what the deficit is at this point. The information provided to the committee is that for social workers the deficit is approximately 300 and for social care workers it is 100. I also ask for information on the supports provided to those on the front line who are doing huge work. We need to deal with the issue of special care facilities so we can move away from special emergency arrangements. Those who are the first port of call need to be given protections that will enable them to deal with their caseload and triage properly. As I nearly always say, we need to get early intervention in place. We have to give it a steroid injection or something because we are not where we should be in relation to the supports required by individuals and families.

The Tusla staffing level is 5,661, which is an increase of 343 staff on the previous year. There has been a 3.6% increase in the number of social workers.

Could I have a breakdown?

Yes. I will ask Tusla to make available to the Deputy a more specific breakdown on the different types of staff. I want to mention the training places for social workers because these have proven to be impactful. The number of training places has doubled over the past five years. At the end of 2025, there were 340 placements in Tusla, with further expansion planned. A social work apprenticeship has been introduced, with 34 apprenticeships starting in 2024 and 71 in 2025. The plans envisage that in 2026, we will have 100 or more apprentices in those training places. A similar approach is planned for social care. Tusla continues to provide retention supports and management teamwork training for workers in order that caseloads are managed effectively and equitably. Tusla has also provided additional resources for more supports, including community and voluntary programmes to help assess and support cases more effectively.

I thank the Minister. We will now go back to Question No. 137 in the name of Deputy Barry Heneghan.