Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for keeping the spotlight on this issue because it is so important that we support foster carers. I have met IFCA and Movement for Change in Foster Care and other organisations representing foster carers regularly. In particular, I met them after, not the 2024 budget but the 2023 budget, and I said I would work with them to deal with the allowance which was a key issue for them. The allowance has been raised by €25 from 1 January and will increase by another €50 from 1 November this year. This means foster carers this year will receive an additional €1,700 but in the full year of these increases they will receive an additional €3,900. The Deputy is right that some foster carers struggle with the costs but that is a significant additional support my Department is making available to them. It is absolutely deserved and it is some of the best investment my Department can make both in terms of the quality of outcomes for children but also looking at the bottom line in terms of costings and savings for the State foster care is the better way to proceed on both of those bases.

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