Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I also thank Tusla for coming here today. There are cases in my area that I am concerned about but that is for another day. Two thirds of the recommendations have been implemented. What about the other third? It is important that we know the scale of that. Foster carers provide an invaluable contribution to the State. They are the people on the front line yet after years of service to the State they are not entitled to a full State pension. They are told they do not have enough contributions. Is that something Tusla finds puts foster carers off? That is something we need to address. Deputy Cairns asked about the fostering allowance. There has not been an increase since 2009. Does Tusla support an increase?

The next issue is one I am working on. What steps are being taken for foster carers to advocate on or question decisions made by Tusla? What supports are there for them to be the voice of the child if the child cannot speak for themselves?

Are many foster carers walking away from the service? I see huge barriers in accessing supports for families, particularly for family members. A family I know very well is fostering the child of a member of the family. It was so hard fighting for payments and access to counselling for the child and there was even an issue around the communication coming back. I worked with the family for some months and I felt there really was no encouragement for a family member to do this. They were the nicest family you would ever come across. I was struck by the barriers. They came to me and I was trying to work with them to help them and support them. We got it sorted but I had to get past many barriers myself. What if a family feels they have no one to go to or they need advice? It is something that we need to address so that no matter who fosters a child, they fully believe that the supports are there for them. I understand that Tusla is doing its best and I am certainly not here to give out about the system, as such. Everyone is working understaffed and there is a huge issue with staff. However, we need to examine this so that families in that situation feel that the supports are there.