Tusla, the child and family agency, is facing "huge" challenges in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff.
New figures show 422 employees left the organisation in the first nine months of this year.
The data shows the turnover rate among social workers is highest across the agency at 8 per cent.
Sinn Féin’s Spokesperson on Children and Youth Affairs, Kathleen Funchion, says the workload can be overwhelming for staff.
"We are seeing some people leave for the private sector where the caseload might be more manageable.
"You have to remember that particularly in the area of social work, if you get into that line of work you really want to make a difference and you really want to help people.
"Then if you get to the stage where you've got so many cases that you don't even know where to start, it's very frustrating."
