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

This moves into the second area of the Deputy's concerns relating to what happens in the context of voluntary care and decisions that are made to move beyond that. Those are very valid concerns. As the Deputy is aware, voluntary care is an arrangement undertaken by the parents or guardians of a child and Tusla and does not involve the courts system. We need to be aware of the dynamics involved in that, including the kinds of meetings Tusla staff have with the family. Those relationships are important in order to support that voluntary care, which is usually better for the child if it can be supported. On foot of the fact that it does not involve the courts system, it has not benefited as much from extensive research carried out within the Irish child protection system. However, we have some research into voluntary care that has been undertaken, for example, by people in UCC. It appears to be one of the significant pathways to care under a full care order. This is something that my Department has taken into account in its review of the Child Care Act.

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