Ms Fiona Kearney:

I will pick up on a couple of points, particularly in relation to siblings, or their brothers and sisters as our kids would call them. They are so important, particularly when there is family addiction. Whether it is an older brother, older sister or little sister, there are even more enhanced bonds because they become everything to you. One of the greatest ways to protect those bonds is kinship care, when things break down in a family. What we see happen is it is more likely that the kin, or brothers and sisters, will go together when they move into care. It is very hard to place three or four together, but four grandparents and aunties need support, particularly financial support.

In relation to what is being proposed in terms of next steps and supports, we have talked a lot about the statutory services. Obviously, we want the income support payments and housing with the local authorities, but for most families with kinship care, community supports are very important because most do not want to engage with Tusla. They probably do not need to engage after a certain point because once children move for a period and the parents are satisfied that is the arrangement, with the right community supports, they can manage that themselves. It can be fluid and flexible and, when things change for the parents, there can be arrangements that are agreed by all family members. That is in the best interest of children. We need to invest in community service to support kinship carers. Those are very practical supports.