Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 March 2023

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth

Foster Care Issues: Discussion

Photo of Kathleen FunchionKathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Most of the points have been raised. The point about the pension is coming up very strongly but I am kind of glad because when many of us were contacted in advance of last year's budget, it was right up against the budget. Hopefully there will be the opportunity this year for that to be addressed. I know foster carers have been campaigning for years but I am conscious as well that some time last year, they started to visit constituency offices which is a really good thing because it puts their issues front and centre and firmly on the agenda. This was before the real crisis of the cost of living that we have now so they really are under pressure. However, enough points have been made on that.

We should always try to make the point that any way of resourcing the family support aspect of Tusla should be looked at in order to try to avoid care settings. In an ideal world, there would never be anybody in foster care. We are not going to get that but if this can be avoided as much as possible where supports are in place. Sometimes we see cases where if there had been a little bit more family support, a care setting could have been avoided. I am obviously not talking about the really horrific situations we come across as well.

My final point is on aftercare which is something that has come up a bit more frequently. I have noticed in the clinics we do that more people are falling through the cracks, particularly if they are not going into further education. They could actually be going into full-time employment but relationships may break down at that point with a foster parent. Plus, when people reach 18, if they are not going on to further education, they nearly reach a bit of a cliff edge. It is something to be conscious of to see what other supports we can give. I know Empowering People in Care, EPIC, do really good work but if there was anything else that could be done to reach out to people who are in that situation to avoid worst-case scenarios.

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