Dr. Valerie O'Brien:

I will come in on the question regarding kinship care. It is an area I have researched for a long time. There are three ways in which children end up with their relatives. One is where there is a private arrangement, which is usually propelled by a crisis. In the case of those children who do not need protection because the family can protect them, the family can be helped to apply for what was previously referred to as the orphan allowance. The parents may still be alive but it was available where there was evidence that they were unlikely to re-emerge to take a substantial role. Private arrangements are the first route. In some of those private arrangements, child protection issues emerge when the birth parent wants to take the child back. Those families need the protection of the State to stabilise the placements.

The second way is where children come into care but, in an emergency, it is not possible to place them with extended family. It may be out of hours or the family may not be known. Within a short period, however, the plan is to move the child into family care, usually through Tusla.

As regards the third route, approximately one third of children in kinship care have already been in the care of the State, such as in a foster placement and, when those placements break down, Tusla begins to mobilise relatives. That cohort may be older and have different support needs. There are two reasons relatives get involved. We are all members of a family. We know what would happen in the morning if there was a crisis in our family. It goes between affection - knowing and loving the child. As my mother always said, blood is thicker than water and we should get out there and look after one another. That is the obligation level. The other reason is the person knows, loves and has reared the child and is going to keep him or her. It is complicated. The support services families require may be different. Relatives tend to be older and poorer than foster carers. In Ireland, we have a significant number of grandparents and maternal aunts with a child in their care because of the profile of families.