Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for an excellent presentation. In the first instance, it should be recognised that the role of foster carers is vital. Generally, foster carers are motivated by very noble and selfless reasons. The system would collapse without foster carers, but nonetheless the report is quite frightening and worrying in many respects, in particular the fact there is no official regulation of foster care and that complaints or child protection concerns were not always passed on to the foster care committees. That is of particular concern. Much of the problem seems to come back to staffing, in particular in terms of Tusla. I refer to the support service annual review we received from the Irish Foster Care Association. One of the primary concerns foster carers flagged to the association is the lack of correspondence from social workers. It was said that many carers detailed ongoing difficulties relating to the inconsistency and unreliability of communication routes. For example, many stated that they need to phone or email several times to get a response. In some instances, individuals have reported that despite regular ongoing attempts to contact the relevant professional, some have been left without a response for many months. That is a very significant weakness in the entire system. My question is to what extent the very obvious weaknesses, gaps and challenges that exist in ensuring the quality of foster care is at the highest level, and whether we can be confident it is at the highest level, are driven by the lack of regulation and the lack of staff and resources. Which is the more significant weakness or difficulty with the system?