I propose to take Questions Nos. 115, 116 and 127 together.
My Department does not have estimates of the number of vacancies in the public health service at any one time. However, I am aware that shortages exist in respect of social workers, child care workers, psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists.
With respect to the vacancies in the therapy grades, my Department engaged Dr. Peter Bacon and Associates to undertake a workforce planning study to report on the prospective supply and demand for a number of therapy grades, including occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. The report is expected within the coming weeks. As an interim measure, progress has been made in increasing the number of training places from October 2000 for the following therapies: speech and language therapy, eight places and occupational therapy, five places.
The National Social Work Qualifications Board – NSWQB – published a report in July 2000, Social Work Posts in Ireland, which recommended the creation of 200 new posts over the next two years. The NSWQB has since recommended the creation of 68 additional training places each year over the next four years. Talks are ongoing with the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Science, and a survey of all employers has taken place to establish how additional practice placement places can be made available.
The expert group on various health professions recommended that child care workers be accorded formal professional status and that the recruitment of non-qualified staff must eventually cease. It also recommended the establishment of a joint committee to deal with issues arising from the recognition of the autonomy of the profession including the setting up of a proper career structure for both residential and community care workers, the changes required in general management of a child and family services and in case management arising as a consequence, the management of changes arising from the ending of recruitment of non-qualified child care workers, a complete review of the training available to child care workers, with a view to the introduction of a nationally recognised professional qualification and the provision of regular in-service training and the arrangements for training of unqualified staff to an accepted standard.