Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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46. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to review the funding and allowances paid to foster parents as part of Tusla's increased funding in 2018 in order to take account of the role of foster parents and the additional duties and responsibilities they assume; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50221/17]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I take the opportunity to ask about the plans to review the allowances and funding paid to foster parents who carry out a very important role, given the increased funding of €40 million for Tusla in budget 2018. I am sure the Minister will agree that foster carers are a vital resource in the care system, in looking after almost 92% of the total number of children in care. At the end of July there were 5,801 children in foster care. I point to the extra resources needed to further support foster parents and the fact that we need to attract new foster parents.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I have no plans to change the rate of the foster care allowance at this time. However, my Department has begun an extensive review of the Child Care Act 1991 and will examine foster care arrangements as part of this review. It will have regard to income support measures available to foster families generally.

I acknowledge foster carers as the backbone of child care services. Foster care is the preferred option in Ireland for children who cannot live with their parents or guardians. Approximately 92% of children in care are looked after by foster carers. More than one quarter of these children are placed with relative foster carers.

The foster care allowance is currently €325 per week per child under 12 years of age and €352 per week per child aged 12 years and over. This payment was protected during recent economic hardships and is tax-free. It is paid in respect of the child and provided in order to allow foster carers to meet all of the child's daily living needs, including food, clothing, basic travel, education costs and hobbies and sports activities. The allowance is not considered as means for social welfare purposes.

Foster carers also receive a number of targeted supports to ensure they continue to function as a recognised and valued part of the alternative care system. Key elements of this support include a link social worker, access to training and support group meetings and the allocation of a social worker for each child in care. It is important that foster carers have access to specialist services to meet the child's identified needs. Respite care for children may be arranged if it is part of their care plan.

Pre-assessment and ongoing training are compulsory for foster carers in order to equip them with the skills and knowledge to provide high quality care. Recognising the specific dynamics and the personal nature of relative care, Tusla addresses the training needs of relatives who are foster carers separately. In addition, Tusla provides funding for the Irish Foster Care Association which offers a range of supports to carers, including advocacy, mediation, training and a telephone advice service.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her response. We need to review how foster parents are rewarded and recompensed for the work she has outlined, work which, we must acknowledge, saves the State an awful lot of money. When were the allowances paid last reviewed? From talking to foster parents who have been fostering for many years and do not remember a change in the rates, my sense is that they have not been reviewed for a very long time. The Minister has outlined foster carers' responsibilities and what the money is for: clothes, food, accommodation, classes and education. She has said it does not act as a payment in any way for foster parents. However, we need to recognise that the obligations placed on foster parents have increased, rightly so. Under Children First, they are now being asked to take on additional reporting obligations. There are extra responsibilities and they are taking on the role of a social worker.

Will the Minister comment on an anomaly that arises in regard to the rates of allowance for which foster carers are eligible? As she indicated, the rate is €325 per week for children aged under 12 and €352 for the over 12s. However, once a child reaches 18 years of age, the rate drops to €300. Given the high uptake of transition year, many students are not finishing second level by the time they turn 18. Moreover, it is probably much more expensive to care for an 18 year old than a 14 year old, but families are getting €52 less per week for an older child.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I do not know when the rates were last reviewed but I will find that out for the Deputy.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I understand it was not done recently.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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If it is the case, as he suggests, that the rates have not been reviewed recently, it is even more important that this should be done in the context of the extensive review of the Child Care Act in which my Department is engaged. The points the Deputy has raised are timely and all of them circle around the extraordinary contribution foster carers make to the protection and care of children and to Irish society in general. All of these issues will be considered as part of the wider consultation associated with the review of the Child Care Act. I expect that consultation to include an examination of the rationale for an increase in allowance rates in the context of the increased costs facing foster carers and the additional supports they may require.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The concerns I am raising are compounded by the difficulties being experienced by foster parents in qualifying for the contributory pension. The problem here is that what they do is not seen as work. I understand this particular issue is outside the Minister's remit and may be more properly a matter for the Department of Social Protection. However, as Minister with ultimate responsibility for foster parents, I look forward to teasing out the matter with her in the future with a view to championing the cause of foster parents in this regard. While foster carers qualify for homemaker's credits until their foster children are 12, thereafter they are deemed to be not working and are being told they must get a part-time job. They are expected to do so while also caring for teenagers who are often very vulnerable. We must ensure the role of foster parent is recognised as a job that qualifies for credits and thereby allows them to qualify for a contributory pension.

Some 92% of the children in the care of the State, many of them requiring a great deal of support, are looked after on our behalf by foster carers. Those carers are deserving of adequate practical support, such as the retention of the higher-rate allowance and the mileage payment of 33 cent per mile after their foster child turns 18. In addition to this practical provision, there also must be an acknowledgment on the part of the State of the very important role foster parents perform and a clear statement of the desirability of ensuring they are adequately supported. That is vital if we are to continue to attract people into this vital role in the future.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Deputy has made his points very well. As I said, they are timely in the context of the review being conducted within my Department. The Deputy referred in particular to the income supports that are provided to those who take on this important and special role on behalf of the State. As I set out in my reply, there are other forms of support in addition to income support that are part of the system and are also significant. These include regular home visits and telephone contact from an assigned fostering link worker and the allocation of a social worker to each child, who visits the child and maintains a link with his or her birth family. In addition, foster carers may apply for child benefit for each child in their care and there is a comprehensive training programme for carers at both the pre-approval and post-approval stage. Each child in foster care will have his or her own medical card. These additional supports illustrate the effort on the part of the State to acknowledge the extraordinary role carried out by foster carers.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We will now go back to Question No. 45, which is taken with Question No. 60. Deputy John Curran is deputising for Deputy Brendan Smith.