Joe and his family were known to the Health Service Executive child and family services since he was a young child. There was a history of domestic violence and alcohol abuse in the family home. He had been listed by Tusla as a high priority case and, sadly, took his own life at the age of 15 years. Despite the fact that he had been identified as a high priority case, he had not been allocated a social worker because of staff shortages.

Dylan was in the care of the State after leaving the care of his mother who was struggling with a drug problem. He died just before his 17th birthday, with a high level of toxicity in his system. A recent review of the case by the national review panel found that issues with his welfare had been known about for long periods, that a succession of social workers had been involved but never for long enough to develop a relationship and that a child protection plan had been made but never implemented.

Avril's family background was described as being categorised by domestic violence, criminality and changes of accommodation. She had been out of contact with the social work department for nearly two years when she died, not fully 17 years old, with her case closed.

These cases, among others, were examined by the national review panel which found systemic failures by Tusla and the social services. In each instance it emphasised that no specific action or inaction by social workers had been responsible for the deaths but it found time and again failures that could be attributed to a high turnover of social workers and pressures of work which had led to firefighting. These cases underline a system that is broken and that stretches resources too thinly, including social workers who are doing their best but who are utterly overworked, exhausted and overwhelmed. Efforts to resolve the issue are falling far short. Tusla is losing 150 social workers a year. Despite efforts to recruit, the net increase in the number of the child and family social workers in 2016 was a mere 56. There are three times as many child and family social workers in the North per head of population as in the South. Best practice internationally suggests social workers should have a caseload of approximately 15, but I have come across social workers who are dealing with 26 and more and that is not to mention the unallocated cases, of which there are 5,720. Of these, there are 1,057 high priority cases. There are 1,000 Joes, 1,000 Avrils and 1,000 Dylans who are at risk as we debate the issue here. Does the Taoiseach accept that the social care system has been stretched to breaking point, that it has long been neglected and that is is a national scandal which requires urgent intervention by the Government?

Because of the importance of family and care services for children, the Government set up a ministry with responsibility for children, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, held a referendum on children's rights and established the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, which is funded very substantially by the taxpayer every year. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has pointed out that there is quite a number of vulnerable children in different locations around the country who are not being left unattended and that the recruitment of the social workers required to provide individual attention is still under way.

The Deputy mentioned the issue of domestic violence. Clearly, it impacts on families such as the ones he mentioned. I do not have the details of the cases he outlined but obviously they were very serious for the two people to whom he referred. Perhaps he might talk directly to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs who would advise him of the situation so far as Tusla is concerned. Obviously, it is a new agency. There are more and more pieces of information coming to light on challenges for various families and children throughout the country and social workers are under pressure to deal with all the cases with which they have to deal. Arising from the incidence of domestic violence cases, quite a number of initiatives have been taken to enable such incidents to be dealt with and, where possible, prevented but where they do happen the children involved should be catered for properly. On the two individual cases mentioned by the Deputy, of which I do not have the details, I suggest he talk directly to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

The Taoiseach appears to have misunderstood the context. They are not two or three cases that I have come across. They were examined by the national review panel, which was set up by the Government to provide information for Tusla, the HSE and the Health Information and Quality Authority on the failures that were happening in cases involving children.

The Department and the Minister are aware of this. I have raised the matter of unallocated cases on numerous occasions with the Minister. The point made that Tusla is a new organisation does not wash any more as the agency has been there for over five years now. The current predicted net increase of approximately 62 social workers falls short of the target set for the end of last year. Recruitment efforts to try to bring in anything near the adequate numbers of social workers are falling way short. The matter is not being given adequate emphasis or priority by this Government.

We have a scandalous history in this State when it comes to protecting children in the care of the State. Now we have the resources, we should deal with this. Will the Taoiseach commit to increasing the number of social workers that will be taken on and, at a minimum, doubling the number for what is currently projected for recruitment? Will he ensure no stone is left unturned with the current resources so children at very serious risk, including those who end up in very tragic circumstances, will not be left to face those challenges alone?

That was the reason for setting up Tusla in the first place and having a senior Minister responsible for children and a Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs met representatives of HIQA this morning to discuss inspections of foster care and foster care cases. There was €37 million allocated for Tusla for 2017 and 400 new staff are being recruited.

I was there this morning. There are no regulations for foster care.

I assume many of those recruited will be social workers allocated to cases involving people who are vulnerable or challenged. It is not perfect by any means and there are serious improvements to be made. I will have the Minister follow up the three particular cases mentioned by the Deputy.