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	The chairperson of the IrIsh Association of Social Workers Ineke Durville has expressed concern that new child abuse laws will not be effective due to lack of resources.</p>
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	The government has introduced legislation obliging anyone working with children who suspects abuse is being carried out to report it.</p>
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	&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very early days to know how it will be different. Except to say the working load of social workers in this area is already very large&rdquo;, she told RTE&rsquo;s Morning Ireland.</p>
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	Despite new people being brought in to the sector, there is still a high turnover.</p>
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	&ldquo;In reality, new people do come in, but al lot of people go very quickly, so there is a constant turnover of social workers, which has proved to be very difficult to fill&rdquo;, she said.</p>
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	Countries which have introduced similar legislation have seen a spike in the number of reports of abuse &ndash; however Ms Durville warned that a lack of resources in the sector could mean any benefit of the legislation is lost.</p>
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	&ldquo;The number of referrals went up hugely. In a service which is already overloaded in Ireland I&rsquo;m not sure if that would be of benefit to children.&rdquo;</p>
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	She also questioned what the definition of abuse would be under the legislation.</p>
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	&ldquo;What is a suspicion of abuse? Does it mean if someone sees somebody give a child a slap is that serious abuse? Will there be a full investigation? Does it need to be referred?</p>
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	&ldquo;Up until now people have made judgements around some of those things. Now I&rsquo;m not saying it&rsquo;s always right to do those things, we need to be aware that we have a very overstretched system as it is, so it does need proper resources.</p>
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	She called for an increase in social worker numbers, adding that Ireland currently has a third of internationally recommended levels.</p>
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	&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s very difficult to get a number. The reality of it is we are at one third of the numbers of international levels.</p>
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	&ldquo;I think it needs to be borne in mind that we&rsquo;re trying to do something with a service which is under resourced.</p>
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	&ldquo;None of us are saying it&rsquo;s not a good ambition to have this type of very comprehensive service. The problem is in the present climate it&rsquo;s very difficult to achieve.&rdquo;</p>
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	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/head-of-social-workers-group-not-sure-if-new-child-abuse-laws-beneficial-due-to-lack-of-resources-30187368.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/head-of-social-workers-group-not-sure-if-new-child-abuse-laws-beneficial-due-to-lack-of-resources-30187368.html</a></p>
