Mr. Pat Smyth:

Our challenge continues to be around ensuring that we have and we get the resources we require.

We have tried to put in place good services over the last number of years. Despite all the challenges there have been around the residential side, it is worth knowing that the average cost of looking after a child in residential is about €48 per hour, which covers nights, days and weekends. For all those kids in residential, it is not a very big cost if we compare it with everything else that we have to do. We got a plumber last week, which cost about €90 for an hour. It is a lot of money but when we boil it down to what we are trying to do here - the depth of service and what we are trying to replace - it is a big piece.

I wish to note the following. Earlier Ms Duggan referenced the CSO data and there is a very high return. The CSO has examined the data across from 2017 or 2018, in terms of the outcomes for kids who have been through Tusla services. It found that between 85% and 90% of those kids are in good prospects, education and jobs. Yes, the 10% challenge that we have is where we have to look and they consume a lot of the resources. The investment of the State has been very productive in terms of what we have tried to do over the last number of years.