Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone for their presentations. I am a huge supporter of each group's work and I am very appreciative of it. I join with the Chair in acknowledging the death of that woman's daughter and that child's mother. I extend our sympathies. It shows the complexion of life for many families. Before I even ask any questions, I caveat that there are many families who will continue to struggle with substance use while continuing to raise their children. It is not always necessary to remove children from households. I acknowledge that there are many different circumstances and many different assessments to be made at different points in people's journeys. We must keep all of those families in mind and figure out how to support them at each stage and ensure adequate supports are in place, whether in keeping the family together or in moving children into kinship care or other care.

I will ask my questions first and ask the witnesses to note them and then come in rather than beginning a back and forth discussion. With regard to FamiliBase, I have heard lots of positive stuff about building safer communities within Cherry Orchard. I am not sure how much the representatives can speak to the work that happened under the pilot programme with Dublin City Council. From what I have heard about it, I understand it is hugely preventative. It supports people in difficult circumstances but also undertakes preventative work in terms of people's homes and families. Can FamiliBase say a few words on that programme, the role it has played and the necessity of something like that continuing in Cherry Orchard?

My other question is probably for the Department or Tusla. In way too many situations, I have become an advocate in social work spaces. I am not a social worker and do not have that expertise but I keep ending up in that space of supporting people because parents do not have access to a social worker. Even if they get to a point where family reunification is the obvious next step, they find huge barriers within that family reunification piece. I ask EPIC and SAOL in particular to comment on that balance. In some of the meetings I have attended, particularly where the mother has passed away or is in prison and the father looks for reunification, there seems to be a general sense sometimes that the kids are settled in their foster placement or are really happy where they are. That is sometimes presented in a children's rights framework, that the child's preference, because they feel settled there, is somehow children's rights, but actually there is also the family reunification piece or the child's right to a relationship piece. How do we engage with and manage that at an organisational level? Does it come up much?

My next question is for Kinship Care. Proof of parental abandonment is obviously so problematic and shaming. Plenty of parents are still involved in their children's lives but are not able to give everyday care. Maybe we can reiterate why it is so important to address that. I also wonder about a sibling's right to a relationship. I have found that, for example, where a father is in addiction and the children from his most recent relationship end up in kinship care, those children's relationship with other children from previous relationships is not facilitated. Children's right to a relationship with their siblings is not prioritised to ensure those sibling ties remain intact.

One young man I worked with in the prison for a long time who came through the care system spoke about how one of the most traumatising things for him was being split from his siblings and not having that bond and connection to be able to mind each other after such traumatic experiences. Maybe we can speak to how we make sure to safeguard siblings from previous or additional relationships in the family unit.