Ms Siobhan Mugan:

To expand on what Mr. McBride said about the aftercare steering committees, one of the main functions of the steering committee is to have interagency co-operation at local level, as Deputy Conway referred to in Waterford. We are rolling them out nationally into all 17 areas. Their main function is to case-manage the very complex needs of young people between the age of 16 and 18 years to ensure there is a comprehensive interagency plan for these young people. The other part is to build up networks in each local area - each area is quite different given the urban-rural divide - to ensure these areas work together closely in partnership to deliver services for these young people and to build up networks and a directory of services for young people in the local area. It is about highlighting gaps in service provision and these groups will report to the national steering committee, which is an interagency committee, within the agency.

The purpose also of those steering groups is to ensure that when young people do not engage or disengage at 18 years of age, it is a way for them to be re-linked back in. If they turn up in the homeless services at 19 or 20 years of age, they can signposted back into the aftercare group. That is a way of trying to re-engage young people. I emphasise that our current policy is about the process of tracking and trying to re-engage those young people who are not interested in linking with us when they are 18 but often find it is difficult and return to us when they are 19 or 20.

With regard to foster care, one of our focuses this year is the development of a foster care strategy. It is about supporting foster carers in managing young people with particularly challenging needs so it does not break down and things end up going awry for them.