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

I accept and acknowledge the responsibilities of which Deputy Rabbitte speaks. It is correct that she should do so. What I have been indicating is an awareness of what the Deputy is saying while at the same time giving a commitment, as the Deputy has done, to ensure that the aftercare provisions are improved on and that any young person who wants to engage in aftercare as they age out of care has the possibility of doing that. In terms of the numbers, I have indicated to the Deputy that most of them do have that at this stage. However, Tusla is aware that there are gaps in the aftercare service nationally and it is revising its policy on aftercare and carrying out a number of consultations in that regard. It has also mapped the availability of aftercare staff nationally and identified a number of areas that could benefit from additional aftercare sources. Its business plan commits to the completion of aftercare policy and supporting documents by the second quarter of 2017. It is currently recruiting social care staff, including recent graduates, who will allow Tusla to fill the gaps in its services. In those ways it is, under my direction, following an effort to prioritise and increase the capacity of provision of aftercare plans.

See this speech in context