Ms Kate Duggan:

I will send the data the Senator requested on the number of children in voluntary care or who had been in voluntary care and progressed to fuller care orders to her. We also have data on the number of children who have been reunified from care. I do not have it to hand.

My colleague Mr. Quinlan will deal with some of the themes of the threshold for harm, the safety planning and the interim care order piece, but I want to reassure the Senator that, in operational terms, we are focused on trying to promote the rights and support we provide to birth parents of children in care. Last year we provided almost €500,000 in funding to Barnardos and the Children's Rights Alliance to independently commission a project to support the advocacy and information needs of birth parents.

We are also significantly investing in what we call a wraparound, early support service which is a part of safety planning and Mr. Quinlan will reference that. Outside an emergency or section 12 situation, we try to support children to remain in their family and in the networks they have built up around them. That is linked to cultural awareness, not only regarding some of the key issues the Senator flagged, but also for the new communities. There are cultural differences in parenting styles and family dynamics. We want to build awareness of that and ensure our decision-making is underpinned by awareness of staff on the ground. Mr. Quinlan might talk a little about safety planning and the threshold for harm.