Vol. 562 No. 6
16 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the shortage of qualified social workers and the number of vacancies reported by the national social work qualifications board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4837/03]
Significant progress has been made in boosting employment levels of qualified social workers in the health services over recent years. This is borne out both by the NSWQB survey, referred to by the Deputy, and the results of the annual health service census. This indicates that the number of social workers employed in the health services rose by 35%, +437, in whole-time equivalent terms over the two years to end 2001, with total employment rising to 1,682 WTEs over that period. These substantial increases highlight the increased attractiveness of employment in the health services for social workers, reflecting the impact of pay increases, improvements in career structure and enhanced opportunities for professional development.
While health agencies continue to experience difficulties in the recruitment and retention of social workers in certain areas, the Deputy may wish to note that intensive efforts have been undertaken in the health service to improve staffing levels in social work, both at local and at national level. Overseas recruitment by health agencies has, over recent years, made an important contribution to meeting human resource needs. The number of non-national social work qualifications accredited by the NSWQB has increased significantly in recent years. Between 1996 and 2000, 330 holders of non-national qualifications were accredited by the NSWQB to work as social workers in Ireland. In 2001 the board approved 149 holders of non-national social work qualifications and a further 302 accreditations were completed in 2002. Also in 2002, 32 persons with non-national qualifications were offered a period of adaptation or an aptitude test to ensure their qualification level matched the standard required to practice in Ireland. The introduction of a fast track working visa scheme for health and social care professionals, including social workers, has also facilitated the recruitment of qualified social workers from overseas.
The provision of additional training places is a central element of the strategy to meet the human resource requirements of the health services in social work. A further 54 social work training places were provided in 2002 bringing the total number of training places to 192 compared to 138 in 2001. This represents an increase of +85 training places, 80%, over the level of training provision in 2000. It is envisaged that an additional 28 training places will be provided in 2003. This very significant expansion in training places will play a major role in ensuring that there is sufficient supply of qualified social workers available for employment in the health services in the future.
