Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Shutterstock/Alexander Raths
Child and Family Agency

Here's how many social worker vacancies there are nationwide

James Reilly shared the figures in the Dáil recently.

THERE ARE CURRENTLY 175 vacant social worker positions nationwide.

Figures released by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla), the biggest employer of social workers in Ireland, show there are almost 1,400 filled positions.

As of 30 October, there were more than 360 social workers based in the Dublin Mid Leinster region, compared with 328 in Dublin North East, 127 in Dublin North City, 80 in Dublin South Central, 86 in Dublin South East/Wicklow and 86 in Dublin South West/Kildare West.

Some 159 social workers are based in Cork, with 85 in Louth/Meath, 81 in Galway/Roscommon, 55 in Donegal, and 15 in Kerry.

Children’s Minister James Reilly recently shared the figures in the Dáil, in response to a parliamentary question asked by Independent TD Denis Naughten.

Reilly said “a system of risk analysis is in place in each area to ensure that staffing numbers do not fall to an unsafe level”. He added that gaps identified through this process are addressed with “the additional resource of temporary staff as required”.

Below is a breakdown of the number of whole time equivalent (WTE) social workers across Ireland:

social work 1

social work 2

social work 3

social work 4 Oireachtas.ie

‘Social workers can’t do their jobs properly due to under resourcing’

More than 100 children in foster care have no social worker

Your Voice
Readers Comments
18
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.