Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We had a briefing yesterday about fostering.ie which is under Tusla. There were foster carers there talking about how wonderful the experience is, and Senator Keogan is or was a foster carer. It is scary to see last year there were fewer foster carers joining than leaving. There is great support on the ground in one sense with the out-of-hours, the peer support and the financial assistance. I was surprised to hear of the flexibility there is with being a foster carer in the form of short-term foster caring and emergency foster caring. We heard about babies and maybe newborns who are put into emergency foster care for six to eight weeks. There is also weekend respite and summer respite. The onus is on all of us to spread the word about the need for foster carers and the fact there are workarounds. Our society has changed a lot in the last 20 years as these foster families are starting to leave the service. As they said, some are leaving because the 18-year-olds who are now not in foster care are still staying with them because of the housing crisis or different needs. We have become very busy as a society in the last 20 years and so maybe the onus is on all of us.

There is time for a third round of questions. Senator Keogan and Deputy Ó Murchú have indicated.