Ms Tanya Ward:

I echo Mr Allen's remarks around preventative support and why we need it. There is an economic argument to be made in that apart from changing the life chances of the young people involved, it costs approximately €100,000 per annum to imprison a person who becomes involved in crime and the cost of providing rehabilitative care for a person who becomes addicted to drugs is very high. There are people with high level needs who go on to become parents. These needs impact on their ability to be parents. The vast majority of people who have gone through the care system will go on to be outstanding parents but some of them need additional support and help. As such, a lack of preventative support will impact on generations of children to come. The cost in this regard to the Exchequer will not be that high. Currently, approximately 100 people annually require this specialised support from the agency and other services.

Deputy Conway referred to young people in foster care and issues around succession. These issues can best be dealt with in the children and family relationships Bill which is currently being drafted. There are some good proposals in that Bill that will radically transform family law in Ireland. For example, one third of children currently in foster care are in voluntary care. There is a provision in that Bill which states that foster parents may be granted custody of children who have been in a voluntary arrangement for more than 12 months. This is incredibly important for the children and young people involved. There is no reason the succession issue cannot be dealt with in that legislation.

The situation in regard to the referendum result is unfortunate. The number of people contacting the Children's Right Alliance asking what impact the referendum result will have on their child and so on is remarkable. We have had to inform these people that the referendum result has been held up by a challenge to it in the Supreme Court.

If the Supreme Court allows the referendum result to be certified, there will be a chance for those foster children. There are hundreds of foster children waiting to be adopted and it is sad for many of these because the clock is ticking and they are close to reaching 18. They are missing out on being adopted because the referendum result is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

I thank the members for their comments and echo the contribution of Deputy Regina Doherty regarding the importance of the voice of the child. We should remind ourselves that a key finding of the Shannon and Gibbons child deaths report was the absence of the voice of children and young people in cases. Records maintenance was patchy for a range of reasons and the voice of the young person was often absent. We must remember to include a duty to consult with a young person in every possible way.