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

The Deputy mentioned the recent campaign Tusla conducted to see if it could get more people interested in providing foster care. As the Deputy indicated, it resulted in some 350 inquiries, which are now being followed up. That is substantial and I congratulate Tusla for doing that, in particular as it was the first time.

One of the reasons it did that was in regard to resources and the best way to spend them. The Deputy and others have raised previously the difference in cost between private placements for children in care and the cost of public foster carers, who are supported by Tusla. Given that difference in cost, Tusla ran this campaign to see if it could get more people interested in becoming foster parents. While it was not necessarily just cost driven, it was conscious of that. Obviously, the more foster carers or parents there are who are providing that service with Tusla, the more resources will be better spent in supporting those providing foster care.

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