asked the Minister for Social Welfare (1) how many trained social welfare workers there are in this country, (2) where such social workers are operating and (3) what plan he has for the future to secure such trained personnel.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Social Welfare Workers.
9.
The information requested by the Deputy is not available.
Why is it not available? If the Minister has not got the information who would have it? The question is a simple one. If the Minister cannot answer it, who can answer it?
I do not know. The number of people——
With respect——
What a trained social worker is is not clearly defined to me anyway. Many people might regard themselves as such.
A person with a diploma in social science.
I cannot allow the Minister away with that. A social worker is a social worker. The term is clear enough. The Minister should be able to answer the question and if he is not he should have asked his officials to instruct him accordingly.
There are no statistics which show the number of trained social welfare workers in the country.
Surely the Minister should know how many social welfare workers there are in the country, if he knows anything.
What is a social welfare worker? I am not trying to be naïve about this.
The Minister for Social Welfare should know that. I am not expected to instruct the Minister on what social welfare work is.
There are many committees throughout the country who are doing social welfare work and most of them would claim to be trained.
Is it not a well-known fact that in practically every country there are social workers usually employed by the local authorities? If the Minister does not know anything about it the best thing he can do is to resign from his office.
The Deputy who is asking the irresponsible question is the one who should resign.
Do not be talking about resignations. It is very dangerous.
You will have a few on your hands next week.
Wait, I want to answer this question. The Deputy may have in mind public health nurses who are trained social welfare workers; he may have in mind the social welfare workers appointed by the various committees which are doing voluntary work throughout the country; or he may be referring to psychologists trained in social welfare or persons having a psychological training in social welfare work. There are a variety of persons for whom there are no statistics available. I should like a clear definition of what exactly the Deputy is looking for.
If the Minister did not know what the question implied he could have, out of common courtesy, got one of his officials to telephone me to ask me.
Tell us now.
The truth is that he is not prepared to answer the question because he has no social welfare workers and he has no scheme to introduce social welfare work. He is only displaying his ignorance by giving me the answer which he did give.
Is the Minister not aware that it is generally accepted that a social welfare worker is a person with a degree or a diploma in social science?
If it is limited to that definition well and good but I am afraid very many people who are doing social welfare work who claim to be trained may not have a degree and Deputy Esmonde knows that perfectly well.
I do not know. I am asking the Minister.