Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If the Deputy has details about an individual case, I ask her to liaise with Tusla because, of course, it puts the child at the centre. Any decisions about the care of a child in the circumstances the Deputy describes would be taken on a professional basis. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to comment on any case. We have developed, and the Government has prioritised, early childhood care. We have prioritised the funding of Tusla. We have prioritised making sure that there are enough social workers available to do the kind of work in the professional way that the Deputy outlines that needs to be done. Very importantly, we have had a whole series of reports from HIQA into fostering services identifying the very many strengths. Again and again, we have seen reports that state that children are getting an extremely good service from our foster parents. There has been increasing support of foster parents, which of course they need.

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