Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to refer to the Minister of State's last point because it really gets to the heart of the matter. If families were to do as proposed, they would be left waiting. We have initiated the process. A number of Deputies have done as described. Cases are in the pipeline for a long time. In my case, for example, I was offered two afternoons in December for an appointment. When I tried to make arrangements for an appointment, the opportunities were gone.

The next appointment is 10 January for a process that started in October. I appreciate that people must get the training, but since the initial contact in October there has been one meeting, a huge number of forms, health screening, talking, looking at the house and so forth. After all of that there is now a meeting on 10 January, but there was nothing in December. If people were to come forward, the structure is just not in place in terms of resources. There must be more money and recruitment. That is not easy, but it must be in place. Perhaps it is something that should be teased out between the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Justice and Equality.