Mr. Bernard Gloster:

That is dealt with predominantly in two ways. One is the aftercare allowance Mr. Smyth outlined earlier, which is a significant allowance to the young person. If the young person is staying on with the foster carer, which some often choose to do, some of that would contribute to the upkeep of his or her care. In very exceptional circumstances, we will make provision directly to the foster carers if the young person needs that support and wants to avail of it. During Covid-19, for example, I made a decision to extend the process for any child who was due to leave the foster care or aftercare system so that child could continue with the support he or she had for as long as he or she wanted. That proved to be very successful. There are supports there.