Mr. Bernard Gloster:

The Senator's commentary based on her lived experience probably says far more about the value, benefit and necessity of foster care than I ever could. I am genuinely very grateful to her for the comments she has made in the position she now holds.

Aftercare supports for young people leaving care are very extensive. In many cases, these supports are provided up to the age of 23. I am concerned that many of the supports are sometimes limited within the parameters of traditional continuing education. There must be other options for people in this category. We provided a great deal of additional supports during the Covid-19 response. We extended all the dates on which people might have been due to leave care or exit formal aftercare. We have extended those dates right up to Christmas to ensure that additional vulnerability was not brought to them. There is no doubt that there is an increasing need for additional aftercare supports. I am very glad to see it on the agenda, being driven by care leavers along with many groups such as EPIC and Aftercare Ireland that we engage with. I think that is really important.

Before I bring in the chief social worker to speak to the question around sexuality for children in care and the impact of domestic violence as a feature of the lives of children coming into care, I will ask Ms Duggan to talk about family support. The Senator is quite right that many people are not aware of it. Some 24,000 people received a family support service from Tusla in 2019, as opposed to a child protection-type service.

After Ms Duggan has spoken about that, Mr. Brophy will speak about the issue around sexuality and the challenges for young people in care, and the director of finance, Mr. Smyth, will answer the question about residential units and spending on residential care paths. We will try to do that as tightly as we can in the time available.