By Róise Collins

MORALE among social workers in Donegal is being decimated as they struggle with growing pressure and mounting caseloads, it has been claimed.

Some social workers have left their roles with Tusla to work with the HSE or in the private sector, with one even considering leaving their high-pressure job to work in a local supermarket.

The situation has been highlighted by the Fórsa trade union in response to an internal review of Tusla in Donegal, which revealed delays in assessing reports of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment of children due to “intractable staffing problems” and “burnout.”

The review, completed in November 2023, was revealed to The Irish Times through the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokesperson for Tusla confirmed to the Donegal News that since the internal review, a number of measures have been taken to address these challenges, including restructuring the service and introducing initiatives to reduce the number of unallocated cases.

They said a follow-up monitoring earlier this year showed that the area had implemented a significant number of actions identified for service improvement and there has been a marked improvement on waiting list times since 2023.

But according to Fórsa, social workers across the county are still really struggling. They are skipping lunch breaks and working late nights and weekends to keep up with rising caseloads.

“Staff morale is absolutely through the floor,” said Fórsa official Michelle Connaughton.

She said people choose a career in social work because they want to make a difference, but staff feel they are “trying to do that with their hands tied behind their back.”

With a high number of vacancies across all teams in Donegal, social workers are left to carry the caseloads of colleagues who are off, which the report said is masking the “full extent” of the problems in the local service.

“They are firefighting all the time,” Ms Connaughton stressed.

The internal report also showed that these staff shortages led to a “significant waiting list” in Donegal, which required an “immediate” response from management.

Ms Connaughton revealed that twice in the past year, they had to introduce emergency measures in specific teams to try and clear a backlog of cases.

“They are in the process of having to do a similar project now.

“That means pulling people in from other teams as an emergency to clear backlogs.”

She said they are left to prioritise one team over another and assess which staff might have capacity to take on additional work.

“But the reality on the ground is that nobody has capacity.”

“It’s a never-ending cycle,” she said, explaining that the increasing caseloads and added pressure are impacting service provision.

“It is having an impact on children in the region, because social workers are not able to do all of the things they would love to do if they were properly resourced.”

This, in turn, is creating further issues with staff retention.

Social workers in Donegal are leaving Tusla to join the HSE or the private sector.

Ms Connaughton has also been made aware of a case where a burnt-out staff member has applied for a job in Lidl.

Social workers can’t currently claim overtime and instead accrue Time Off In Lieu (TOIL). For many this is building up as they have no opportunity to use it.

As a result, the trade union is advising members that they are not obligated to work beyond their contracted hours and are entitled to take their lunch breaks.

Disagreements between the union and management over what constitutes a “vacancy” is also causing tension.

“Management would say maternity leave is long-term sick leave and not a ‘vacancy’ so they don’t get covered.

“But the union argues that if there’s a gap in the team, it should be treated as a vacancy.”

With a young, mostly female workforce, staff are often off on maternity leave.

During this time the work is divided among others on the team adding further to their caseloads.

“There is also a ceiling on the number of recruits allowed each year.

“This means that even if there’s a vacancy on one team, they might fill that role by placing someone in a different area based on service needs.”

So, while the post may technically be considered “backfilled,” the original team could still be left with a vacancy.

In their response Tusla acknowledged the recruitment challenges which remain in Donegal and nationally, “due to persistent high level of referrals coupled with increased complexity of cases.”