A HIQA inspection of child protection and welfare services in Louth and Meath has found that three out of 29 children on the Child Protection Notification System did not have an allocated social worker for extended periods.
The Health Information and Quality Authority found deficits in the monitoring and oversight of children on the system, including their safety planning and home visits.
Of the six standards assessed by inspectors in April, two were judged as compliant and four were not compliant.
They found non-compliances in the service's ability to perform its functions in line with relevant legislation, national policies and standards.
In two cases there was no allocation of a social worker for two months. A third child was unallocated for a period of six weeks.
HIQA said improvements were needed in uploading documentation to Tusla’s case management system.
The service area indicated that they did not have the necessary staffing resources to effectively manage their child protection service.
The inspection report pointed out that staffing resources had not been prioritised sufficiently to ensure that the children listed on the Child Protection Notification System had an allocated social worker and as a result "they did not receive an adequate service".
Inspectors spoke to some children who were allocated social workers and their parents.
The children reported that social work involvement had helped their family, with one child commenting "It has made some difference in the family".
Parents spoke positively about social workers visiting their home and speaking with them and their children.
One parent highlighted that their social worker changed a lot and said "the changes were difficult for the children".
However, another parent said that when their allocated social worker went on leave the home visits stopped and it was difficult to get a response when they made phone calls to Tusla to see if anyone was going to visit the family.
The latest HIQA inspection report follows the publication of the findings of an inspection into services in the east of the country last week, which showed that children who alleged abuse, inappropriate contact and sexual assault were left on waiting lists for months.
Tusla said the report into Dublin South, West Kildare and West Wicklow highlighted the impact of increasing demand right across the agency.
It said it had scaled up services and increased staffing levels in response to the issues identified.
