MINISTER for Children Frances Fitzgerald has been criticised for accepting the assurance of the Health Service Executive that additional social workers have been employed when the HSE was telling the media there was a “recruitment pause”.

Fianna Fáil spokesman on children Charlie McConalogue also criticised the Minister for twice failing to answer parliamentary questions about the number of social workers in place at the beginning of January 2011.

Ms Fitzgerald, who said she would “communicate” with the TD about the social worker numbers, told the Dáil the HSE planned to employ a further 60 social workers this year.

As part of the implementation of recommendations in the Ryan report on child abuse, 270 extra social workers were to be recruited, of whom 200 were in place by the end of last year.

“I have been assured by the HSE that it plans to have these additional staff in place by the end of the year,” she said.

Mr McConalogue said during the last parliamentary questions on the issue that the Minister had said 60 would be hired, but “as of the start of November, none of the 60 has been hired”.

He said a HSE statement reported in The Irish Times earlier this month stated there had been “a recruitment pause throughout this year, not allowing any further posts to be filled. The Minister is telling us today that the HSE has informed her differently.”

He had also been told in discussions with social workers that “contracts offered are not being processed and that vacancies as a result of maternity leave and people retiring are not being filled”.

However Ms Fitzgerald repeated what she had said at the last parliamentary questions: “I am assured these posts are not affected by the pause on recruitment”.

She added that Mr McConalogue’s information was incorrect. “To date, four of the posts have been filled, 11 candidates have accepted offers, in respect of which the necessary clearances are being processed.

“The remainder of the posts are at various stages of the recruitment process.”