Mr. Bernard Gloster:

Yes. We are dealing with that adequately. The overall downward trend in the number of children in care would be an indicator that there is some levelling off but one cannot tell given the complexity. On what the service will cost in future, it is difficult to speculate on that given the legislation.

I am glad the Deputy mentioned the creative community alternatives. I met two young people individually in Tralee last Thursday who told me their stories. They are both respondents under the CCA. I also met a group of young people in Galway and Roscommon who were respondents under the programme. It is a very exciting initiative. The difficulty for the agency is that we allocate approximately €5.5 million in the base for the programme. This is not being cut back and will continue but it becomes tied up in cases very quickly and we have to wait for normal attrition before money is freed up to be allocated.

I will revert to the Deputy on Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services in his constituency in a matter of days. I understand that service received a significant amount of money under the CCA. To be fair to the area and people in Cork, I will need to check how that has bottomed out for the young people to whom it was assigned.