Ms Breda O'Donovan:

I have a small point on foster carers and concerns about losing them. We have to realise that when children are placed in foster care, it is a family home and very often there are other children in that family home. When we look at regulation, policies and procedures, we must always the safety of the child, which is paramount, with allowing the children to live a normal family life in a family home. Foster carers must be supported, as Deputy Rabbitte noted, and they need to see a social worker on a regular basis. The child also needs to see a social worker on a regular basis. There must be a relationship and every family survives when there is a good relationship in the family home and good communication, with people being able to talk openly about an issue if it arises. A foster carer must know that no matter what concern he or she might have, whether it is small or big, he or she can go to the link worker about it, be listened to and there would be action. The child must have a relationship with his or her social worker and be able to talk to the social worker or foster carer if there is a problem.

In my fostering experience, very often children in care will divulge information to other children in the family and not necessarily to a foster carer or social worker. We need to ensure the children of foster carers are supported as well and looked after. With all the regulation and everything coming down the line, it is getting more difficult for foster carers. We had a consultation recently where six out of ten foster carers said they would not recommend fostering to another person at this stage. It is a serious concern for us. When we examine regulation, we must remember that this involves family homes and we cannot over-regulate that. We have health and safety spectacles on when we have children in our care but we are not living in a residential unit and we must remember that.