The Government has approved funding for the new Social Services Inspectorate and posts will be advertised tomorrow week, the Minister of State for Children has said.
The move was welcomed by the Irish Association of Social Workers. Mr Frank Fahey announced the new posts at the IASW's annual conference in Kilkenny.
For some years, child care groups have been calling for an independent inspectorate which could examine the services provided to individuals and especially to children and which could conduct investigations and publish reports.
The appointment of an inspectorate was promised by the previous government.
However, the inspectorate will not be an independent statutory entity. Instead it will be established "on an administrative basis within the Department of Health and Children", he said.
The inspectorate will consist of a chief inspector, three inspectors and two administrative workers. The cost of running the inspectorate will be £250,000 a year.
"The Social Services Inspectorate will provide an external overview of the child care services which, in turn will provide a valuable input to policy development," he told the conference.
Mr Fahey said that since 1993 additional funding of £43.5 million annually has been provided to implement the Child Care Act and over 950 new posts for child care services have been approved.
He repeated the Government's commitment to the introduction of mandatory reporting of child abuse.