Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I read the Proclamation as I pass through the foyer and the obligation we are supposed to have is to care for all the children of the State.

On foster provision, during my teaching career I taught a number of foster children. I also met foster parents who do an unbelievable job. My God, they should be better supported because they do an incredible job. I have seen the wonderful work that foster parents have done with the children who they have taken into their homes. On an hard economical analysis, and these figures might be out of date, but a Tusla foster care placement costs around €325 for a children under 12 years. A private foster care placement - and I do not why we would have two types of placement - is about €1,000. I have also seen figures for other types of placement. While I accept that some children are too challenging and complex for foster parents to care for within their homes the cost of residential placement is absolutely through the roof. Should we not better support foster parents? I ask because foster parents are as rare as hen's teeth and they feel under-supported.