Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation which I watched on the monitor in my office. Many of the questions have been answered. Reference was made to the formalisation of overall regulation as opposed to regulation per child. Do the witnesses believe that regulation is required per child and overall, or would overall be sufficient? We want regulation and to protect children as best we can, but we do not want to overburden the system with bureaucracy which we see right across the public service, because that stifles service delivery.

It was said that some foster carers were frequently assigned social workers. Why was that the case? It was also mentioned that there was distance between siblings. What was the longest distance? Were they in the next parish? I come from a rural area. One case related to the midlands. Were the siblings miles apart? I would welcome some statistics in this regard. Also, what distance were the children from their original locality?

It was stated that efforts are being made to attract more foster carers into the system. From the analysis that has been done, what can we do to get more foster carers to sign up?