Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Foster Care Services: Discussion (Resumed)

9:00 am

Mr. Jim Gibson:

We have done a great deal of work in respect of our organisational culture and we are in the space of being creative and collaborative, but that also means we retain control and remain competitive in different aspects. It is clear from my interaction with our staff that they thoroughly approve of that culture and feel it is engaging and produces good outcomes for young people and staff retention. The majority of our staff are young women who get married and go on maternity leave, which is a major trend. It is difficult to keep up with that in a competitive recruitment market.