Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Rabbitte for her question. I am committed to implementing the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 which entitles eligible young people to a formal aftercare plan prepared by Tusla in collaboration with the young person leaving care. I am pleased that the Act places an explicit as opposed to an implicit duty, as is currently the case, on Tusla to satisfy itself as to the young person's need for assistance and support as he or she leaves care. My Department is working closely with Tusla to ensure that the provisions of the Act can be fully implemented as quickly as possible in the coming months. Currently, there are approximately 1,900 young people in receipt of aftercare services from Tusla. In the first six months of this year, 315 young adults were discharged from State care on reaching the age of 18. Approximately 98% of them were eligible for an aftercare service and 91%, or 280 young people, availed of it.

In regard to funding, the Deputy will be aware that I secured an additional €37 million for Tusla in budget 2017, bringing its total allocation to €713 million. Tusla will shortly prepare a business plan for my consideration, in which it will set out how it proposes to allocate its total funding for the year, including its spending plans for implementing the legislation on aftercare and in respect of all the other services it provides. It is important to note that these costs arising relate only to implementation of the provisions of the aftercare legislation. Young people leaving care typically receive supports relating to accommodation, further education, employment and training, which are funded by other Departments. This means that the part of Tusla's budget for 2017, which is ultimately allocated to aftercare services under the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015, will represent just a small proportion of the total spend by the State on those in receipt of aftercare services.

I believe that our young people leaving care deserve high quality supports throughout the system and that full implementation of the Child Care (Amendment) Act will be a key element of how our society helps them to make this critical transition in their lives.

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