Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We talked about the need to increase the payment for foster carers. For one thing, there is a rising cost of living and there has not been an increase in the payment in a long time. In the context of the percentage of children in foster care is going down and the percentage of those going into residential care is rising, the cost to be in residential care is €6,000 versus the small payment to be in foster care. What is the cost of having a child in residential care versus the cost of having a child in a foster family? It is being pushed for them to do this on a budget, and we know it makes sense for better outcomes for children, but from a budgetary perspective, it costs ridiculously more to have a child in residential care instead. Does it not make budgetary sense for the Government to increase the pay for foster families? I do not understand.