Quarter of social worker posts unfilled

A quarter of all social worker jobs in the country are unfilled, with services in some areas on the verge of becoming “unsafe”, staff representatives have said.

The HSE was forced to agree emergency measures yesterday by moving to contract agency social workers on a temporary basis after over-stretched staff in one part of the country warned excessive vacancies were hitting crisis point.

Staff numbers in the Kildare-West Wicklow area are at just 65% of the HSE- agreed levels, resulting in a backlog of 900 children awaiting assessment, including 150 with potential child protection issues.