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

I have found that for people departing, age is one of the major criteria. People who have fostered all their lives and are now in their mid-70s and simply are not in a position to do it anymore.

That is a crucial reason. Our biggest problem is recruitment. A lot of people who come into the foster care system as foster carers are care experienced themselves and know the benefit of what it did for them.

Tusla is taking a number of steps. It now has a strategic plan for foster care services and a new national director for foster care. It did not have that before and I asked it to appoint that person in order to prioritise this area. One area that we need to tackle is the issue of pensions. I am sure that was raised with the Deputy when she met representatives. There is a sense of there not being any kind of clear pension contribution. It is something my Department has raised with the Department of Social Protection and I will talk about it in the general election campaign. It is a crucial issue. We have done a lot on the allowance, but the longer term piece in respect of providing stability in old age for a family which has given much of their lives to foster caring needs to be answered more clearly.

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