Calls to double third-level places on social work courses to counter 'staffing crisis'
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Third-level places for social work courses must be doubled, according to an organisation representing social workers, while the Ombudsman for Children says that measures must be put in place to recruit and retain Tusla staff.
The comments come after the revealed on Monday that there are currently more than 850 vacancies in Tusla. These include 340 social work positions and 244 social care posts.
While the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said the figures were extremely concerning, he said they were not surprising.
He said: “Specific measures need to be put in place to recruit and retain people in Tusla. We know this isn’t an easy career, but it can be a very rewarding one. Young people considering this path, and those currently working with Tusla, must be supported to continue the vital work that they do.”
Vivian Geiran of the Irish Association of Social Workers says that the number of places on social work courses in third-level institutions needs to be doubled from the current 270 places.
He said: “Tusla is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, employers of social workers in Ireland. There is actually a staffing crisis right across the board — not just in Tusla.”
He listed countries such as Denmark, Portugal and Malta as having similar difficulties in recruiting social work staff.
He said: “The bottom line is that Ireland is not producing enough social workers every year to stand still, never mind to develop services. There are six universities that train social workers in Ireland and collectively they produce roughly 270 graduate social workers every year.
“IASW reckons that we need to be approaching something like a doubling of that figure just in order to meet requirements — people are retiring, you sometimes have social workers who move into different roles, so there is always going to be a turnover."
He also said that, unlike other professions, there is no single government department that has responsibility for social workers because the area falls under a number of different government departments such as the Department of Health, the Department of Children, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defence.
He elaborated: “Up to now, there has been no strategic plan for social work in Ireland.
"On the plus side, since the publication of the IASW’s report last December, we have got together with all of the major employers and the six universities and we are looking at trying to work out how to tackle the problems together. Tusla cannot solve this problem, neither can any agency or university unless we all pull together.”
Research will be undertaken to explore the retention issues in social work, while efforts are also being made to increase the number of places available to study social work in university by incorporating places through the National Apprenticeship Programme. Successful applicants would receive payment while on the programme.
Later on this month, a social month awareness week will take place, with adverts being placed to encourage people into the arena, targeted at people doing the Leaving Certificate.