€60m in State funding handed back as 6,000 children left without social workers

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone and her department are to be severely criticised for handing back almost €60m in State funding last year when 6,000 children were not allocated a social worker, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone and her department are to be severely criticised for handing back almost €60m in State funding last year when 6,000 children were not allocated a social worker.

The findings are contained in the latest progress report from the Dáil’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), due for publication tomorrow.