Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister and the officials are very welcome here this afternoon. Fostering is something I am very passionate about. I was a foster parent for very many years. I literally gave it up about two years ago. I have a number of questions, mostly to do with the foster care system and the children in aftercare. My first questions are to do with the deaths of children under Tusla care. In 2023, 29 deaths of children and young people in care, in aftercare or known to Tusla were noted by the national review panel. What concrete actions has the Minister's Department taken to address this? Has she engaged with Tusla or the Department of education to ensure vulnerable children receive adequate educational and welfare supports, but also mental health supports?

My next question relates to children who are missing from Tusla care. According to The Irish Times, 37 children have gone missing from Tusla care this year alone, with early reports saying that potentially hundreds of children went missing from 2018 to 2022, many of whom were unaccompanied minors or at risk of trafficking. What safeguards are being put in place to prevent such disappearances? How are schools and educational welfare officers being supported, along with foster parents? Many of these children actually go missing from foster care settings so support should be given to protect these children.

On the delays in reporting, a 2024 update of the Ombudsman's Taking Stock report found persistent delays in Tusla's handling of child protection cases. What steps has the Department taken to ensure these delays do not leave children in vulnerable settings? Indeed, as you go into primary school settings with counselling, you will find more vulnerable children as a result of that. We need to know what we have set up for that because Tusla, at this moment in time, cannot cope with what it has.

The Ombudsman also found that the children's complaint system is under-resourced and lacks transparency. Will the Department support the establishment of an independent oversight mechanism to monitor Tusla's engagement with school and child welfare services? In relation to the gaps in aftercare provision, the Barnardos report, Moving On: Aftercare Provision in Ireland, highlights that many young people leaving State care face significant challenges, including housing insecurity, the lack of mental health supports and the limited access to education and employment pathway. However, for people over the age of 18, the guardian ad litem, or GAL - their court advocate - leaves that child at the age of 18. That GAL should stay on until the person is 23 if that person is still under Tusla's care. That is something I would like the Minister to consider. That person is so important because as a foster parent, I have no say when the child turns 18 but this particular person does. There is the aftercare worker, but the aftercare worker does not really hold much weight whereas a GAL certainly does.

What steps has the Department taken to ensure aftercare services are comprehensive, consistent across regions and tailored to the individual needs of care leavers? How is the Department addressing the postcode lottery in aftercare access that has been raised as a major problem by advocacy groups? On the monitoring the outcomes of care leavers, the Ombudsman's 2024 annual report noted a rise in complaints from young people who felt unsupported after leaving care, particularly in relation to housing and mental health services. I will highlight this again. I literally have to fight for people who are over the age of 18 to continue getting their adult services. It is just awful and I should not have to do it, but what mechanisms are in place to track the long-term outcomes of young people who exit the care system? Will the Minister commit to publishing annual data on education, employment, housing and well-being outcomes of care leavers to ensure transparency and accountability?

It was probably driven by Covid but in November 2020, I called for a youth recreational voucher of €250 per annum for teenagers to improve their mental health. This could be used for gym membership, sports or anything to do with sports, learning music, crafts, art or whatever. This year, 140,000 students did their leaving cert. Imagine what that little €250 voucher would mean to that young teenager. Not every teenager has the money to go down and join the gym. I see this in my community all of the time. Something like this would equalise children across the board. Some parents might avail of it - people who are wealthy may not avail of it for their children - but those who are deprived and living in deprived communities and economically stressed households might avail of this.

I have to say that I cannot stand the residential care setting. I just cannot stand it. I know we just do not have the parents and families that step up to foster care in this country and it pains me to say that. If we can foster, each and every one of us should look at fostering a child. A loving and caring home is the best setting in which to bring up a child. We just have to stop the residential setting-----