Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am coming at this question from the point of view of my role in the Department of Social Protection and my knowledge of the foster caring side of matters is being added in, to be honest. It might be appropriate to send the question to the other Department to get more detail.

The Deputy mentioned children over 12 and a disability requirement. I do not think the situation is that rigid. Different language is used in respect of the level of care required and the word "disability" is not specifically mentioned in the guidance for children over 12. That may practically end up the case for many children over 12 who qualify but the language is not that rigid.

It is important to say that Tusla can provide additional financial supports to foster carers through additional or enhanced payments. Most carers know that, I suspect. They should engage with their Tusla contact point if there is a particular financial difficulty.

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