Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I, too, recognise the great work done by EPIC. According to EUROSTAT figures, 80% of people aged between 16 and 29 in this country are still living at home with their parents. In every town and village in the country, young adults are living with their parents due to the crisis-of-living crisis and other spiralling pressures such as rents. The age of 18 is very young for a person to leave home. Many of those who do so often feel anxious and return to the family home at weekends or, at least, can phone their parents to look for financial or other assistance. Obviously, most young people return to their family homes at Christmas, for example. For an 18-year-old in foster care, the State placement ends on the person's 18th birthday and aftercare supports can end for many of those people as well. It is important that we go further and look to potentially extend foster care from the age of 18 to the age of 21. Would the Minister agree to that proposal?

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