Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív. I have a couple of comments and questions that follow on from where he left off. It would be interesting to know how many foster-care parents come from a work environment into their role. If they have worked for ten years, they can continue to make voluntary contributions for the rest of the foster-care period. In that case, one is talking about the cost of the voluntary contribution, which is a minimal cost compared with the actual return one would get in terms of a State pension. The feedback from raising awareness of this opportunity among foster parents might indicate the number of people who fall into the category. If a considerable number of foster parents do fall into the category, the overall cost to the Exchequer of an extension for everyone is reduced considerably. From the delegates' perspective, it would be useful for them to make their members and foster parents in general aware of what I am talking about and of potential eligibility.

The delegates raised the issue of making credited contributions where foster parents are between caring roles. Am I correct that, in those instances, they are not in receipt of a payment? Not being in receipt of payments could cause significant problems with regard to getting a credited contribution. This is somewhat different from the issue we are dealing with in terms of family carers. It might be one that the delegates may wish to revisit and revert to us on. Am I correct that a foster parent is eligible to receive the carer's allowance if caring for a child with a serious or significant disability?

Could I have clarification on an issue concerning child benefit that comes under the remit of our committee? My understanding is that if a child leaves the family home, for whatever reason, the parent continues to receive child benefit for six months. If it goes beyond that period, the foster parent receives it. I have two questions in this regard. Does Tusla provide an additional allowance for the first six months to cover the shortfall? Alternatively, could the child in question be left without an additional resource coming into the household? Does that apply in respect of the children I spoke about earlier, namely, the unaccompanied minors, who, thankfully, are now going through the fostering system rather than the horrendous system that was in place prior to that? Does child benefit kick in immediately for foster parents of unaccompanied minors, because the parents of the latter would not be in receipt of child benefit?

Excuse my lack of understanding, but Mr. Taylor might clarify a point for me. He stated, "The delivery costs under either model of ownership or market dominance are at the very least comparable". He was talking about the statutory and non-statutory models. I have had no dealings with the non-statutory model. The only dealings I have had relate to home help. Where the home help is not directly employed by or paid by the HSE, the rate is decided by the company employing that individual to provide this support. Do the parents Mr. Taylor engages with receive the fostering allowance? What is the relationship between those parents and his organisation? Do the parents receive allowances over and above the fostering allowance? Mr. Taylor made the point that there are savings because his model is smaller, less bureaucratic and more agile. How can there be savings if the payment rates are the same? I would like that to be clarified because I do not understand how his system operates by comparison with that associated with home help funded by the HSE.