Ms Clare Murphy:

The first thing I would say about consistency is that it is our wish that every single foster carer would have what we call a link social worker, which is an allocated social worker to offer them support. Unfortunately, due to recruitment and retention issues, that is not always possible. In scenarios like that, we try never to have what we call a dual unallocated case. If a social worker is allocated to a child, as a temporary measure, we ask the social worker to support the foster carer until such time as we can allocate a social worker. It is our wish to have a social worker - what we call a link worker - but it is not always possible. Sometimes we can get a team leader, who is the manager, to offer support.

Regarding enhanced rights and the assessment, in a scenario where a foster carer is awarded enhanced rights and wants an assessment with which Tusla is in agreement about providing, I am not sure why Tusla would not have funded it. I do not understand what the particular issue is because if a foster carer has enhanced rights, consent is not an issue. What were the circumstances in the case the Deputy raises?