Mr. Ger Brophy:

I thank the Deputy for the question. This varies greatly. We are concentrating on matching much more now, particularly with HIQA. We are conscious of a child's need in developing that. Some days, if we cannot find a matching placement, the child may be placed in a bespoke placement in the short term and we will match him or her in the longer term. Such children may not have significant needs. Some children, though, have very complex needs, as has been said, and for a variety of reasons our residential care providers will not be able to provide placements that match their needs so we provide bespoke placements for them. In many cases children aged 16 to 18 will age out and will be able to move on to more independent placements, so that is relatively short-term. Some of those children might be under the supervision of the High Court or other courts. A placement is provided but, generally speaking, it does not go beyond that. We make every effort to move them on to some of our own placements or standard residential placements. It may be a one-to-one placement as opposed to a placement that involves living with other young people, but we move them into those placements as soon as we possibly can. Generally, such situations do not go on long-term.