Mr. Pat Smyth:

The placements of the vast majority of kids who are in foster care are stable. When Tusla was established, we were faced with a double challenge, one aspect of which was the availability of resources. There was no policy in place at that time to ensure that those kids stayed with the families as much as possible, so kids got moved around. Kids may still be moved around today, possibly because they have not settled in a particular placement or because there is some other issue. Kids may be moved around in such circumstances, but in as far as it is possible, and this is something on which we are strong, we ensure that kids stay in their placements. In the regions of north-east Dublin and Dublin-mid-Leinster there are approximately 250 instances of kids who are in foster care under private arrangements. By and large, those kids remain in those foster care arrangements. There is difficulty in finding local foster carers for them. Once a child moves into private foster care, it is challenging to move him or her, purely because of attachments. If the family support is good, the money aspect is seen as less important as the aspect of care for the child. Ultimately, the objective is to ensure that the kids have a stable childhood that is as good as possible so that they become adults who can look after themselves.