Ms Kate Duggan:

I will start at the end, if I may. I have already outlined the legislative pieces that would be very welcome. In terms of social work, Ms Mannion has outlined what more we need and the various actions that we are taking in relation to the supply routes. In terms of foster care, again we are getting support from the Department but it is a changing society. We are still very proud that we are among the top countries in Europe in terms of the percentage of children in foster care. We have over 5,700 children in care and at the moment about 87% of those children and young people are in foster care. We want to get that figure back up to 90%.

What we are seeing from the age profile of foster carers is that they are getting older. Also, there are societal issues that do not so much prevent people from becoming foster parents but make them think they would not be approved. One of the most important messages we are trying to get out there is that foster carers can come from different backgrounds. Foster carers do not have to own their own house or be married. Foster carers can be single and they can have other children, or not. The messaging around the potential of individuals across communities is so important.

We are delighted to see organisations now adopting foster-friendly policies in the private sector. That is something we would love more support on. Private organisations across the country could step up and look at becoming fostering-friendly organisations who support their employees. Employees and individuals may not be able to be full-time foster carers but perhaps they have the potential to take a child for a weekend, to be a back-up support, providing respite for foster carers across the country. We are trying to get support around that messaging.

As we said, as a result of the work we have put in through therapeutic supports, mentoring programmes and the increased fostering allowance that the Minister approved last year, we have seen, for the first time, an increase in the number of Tusla foster carers recruited in the last 12 months. We are hoping that will grow further. We have been vocal on this. It is a shared message from our colleagues in Tusla, the HSE and community and voluntary services right across the country. We are seeing young people with more and more needs in terms of mental health, school avoidance, drugs, addiction and pornography and what we need is a scaling-up of all of the services in the State. It is not about the silos, who owns them or who is responsible, but about investment.