Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I tried to deal with those issues in my first contribution and I reiterate that is an area on which I have done a lot of work. I have tried to push the issue as hard as possible because the one lesson from the Ryan report is that in the history of the State institutional care led to damage to many people in terms of addiction, homelessness, marital breakdown and poverty. If there was any danger that our policies and provision of services today were to repeat that it would be a total failure to learn those lessons. That is why I was anxious to push this issue as far as I could. In ensuring now that there is an absolute understanding among all providers that there is a mandatory obligation to provide after care and a duty to investigate whether that need arises we have pushed this reform to the utmost.

In 2010 we provided for the recruitment of ten additional after care workers, a financial support package for young people moving into after care from foster care, residential care and supported lodgings, the maintenance and refurbishment of existing after care premises and the funding of IAYPIC to develop a national advocacy and support service for young people. I can check the issue raised by Deputy Flanagan in regard to the question to Deputy Timmins.

The Government has maintained foster care payment in each of the past two budgets without any of the reductions which might have been expected, given the other reductions in social welfare. It is an acknowledgement that we are dealing with especially vulnerable group of people and whatever supports we can make available for them are well worth it. I hope the developments which have occurred in this area will be reflected in more fulfilled lives for young people who emerge from care with the challenges they have already experienced in their lives.

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