Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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83. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the degree to which he remains satisfied with the current arrangement that sees private for-profit foster care companies fulfilling the Government’s obligation in respect of children in care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56886/22]

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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My question relates to the care system and the degree to which the Minister remains satisfied with the current arrangement under which private for-profit foster care companies are fulfilling the Government's obligation in respect of children in care.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Foster care is the preferred option for children who cannot live with their parents or guardians. Approximately 89% of children in care are currently being cared for by foster carers, enabling them to live in a safe, secure and stable home environment. Foster care provision in an Irish context can be described as general foster care or relative foster care. In the case of general foster care, this can, in turn, be provided by foster carers who are engaged directly by Tusla, or by foster carers who work with private foster care agencies.

Non-statutory foster care agencies are governed by the same legislation, regulations and standards as statutory foster care services provided by Tusla. Tulsa, through its alternative care inspection and monitoring services, is responsible for the monitoring of private non-statutory foster care agencies, in compliance with the national standards for foster care of 2003. In addition, HIQA undertakes regulatory inspections of the non-statutory foster care agencies, and the findings of these inspections can inform governance and regulatory activities.

I am fully conscious that over-reliance on private providers in any context brings with it certain inherent risks. In this context, the Deputy may be aware of the relevant commitments on this issue in Tusla's strategic plan for foster care services for children and young people from 2022 to 2025. As part of recommendation 3 of the plan, Tusla has committed to reviewing the use of private foster care providers and developing a clear scope for the use of such agencies. In addition, I welcome Tusla's commitment in recommendation 3 to examine the potential for using private foster agencies for specific placement types with more robust service level agreements to reference the rates of fostering allowance and support services for foster carers. As I stated, I very much welcome the commitments within the plan in respect of the use of private foster care agencies, in addition to the numerous other commitments in the plan to improve foster care services for children and young people in care across all models of foster care provision.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I am asking the question because a reply we recently received to a parliamentary question illustrated that up to 6 August this year, €19 million was spent on private services and 485 children, or 9.3%, were placed with non-statutory fostering agencies, that is, the private for-profit agencies. The figures released yesterday in respect of Tusla and the high turnover of staff further indicate that something is not working in the system.

We do not want a situation where children are going into these private fostering arrangements. One situation I have across a lot, and I have had a number of good conversations, in fairness, with Tusla regarding it, is where family members, particularly grandparents, want to foster. There is some sort of breakdown or it just does not seem to be working. It is not that such family members are deemed ineligible but they do not seem to qualify. They are trying to keep the children within the family and a home environment but they do not always qualify for the payment. That is very difficult, particularly if people are at an age where they have retired, their family is raised and they are not necessarily going to be working again. We need to try to examine this because it is clearly not working at present. I apologise to the Acting Chair for going over time.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Tusla is doing a very significant piece of work on the whole area of alternative care. It is bringing forward three key documents, namely, the document on residential care that was published a couple of months ago, the foster care plan we talked about that has just been published, and a document on aftercare. These are the three core elements of alternative care. It might be useful to dedicate a sitting of the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, once the third document has been published, to a discussion all three documents. There are real challenges for Tusla. The foster care plan is very important in respect of Tusla recognising there are challenges regarding its recruitment and retention of staff and its support of foster carers. I attended the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, conference two weeks ago and spoke about my determination to address a number of issues regarding the weekly rate foster carers are paid and other issues around mileage allowances, the availability of the back to school allowance and the like. It is those things that make it a little more difficult for each foster parent. It is about seeing how we can address those issues as quickly as possible.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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The joint committee looked at the issue of foster care. I cannot remember if the Minister has appeared before it regarding this topic but I think we have potentially slotted him in at some point. He should expect an invitation. The committee has looked at this issue and has not finished all its hearings on it. I definitely agree there needs to be a more joined-up approach and thinking because the other side of it is we have people we can potentially keep out of the foster care system. That is ultimately what we want to see. We should consider tying in the home support services Tusla runs with the school liaison service and so on. We always need to tap into services, such as school completion, for which I am a big advocate. That is also part of it, when we are trying to avoid the foster care system at all costs.

When we looked at this issue at the joint committee, Senator Ruane made some very good points about supports for families who do not want to see their children go into foster care. Maybe something has happened in their lives and they are trying to get back on the right track but they are not always given the level of support they may need. A piece of work needs to be done on how we bring it all together. It always worries me that we may take the privatisation road when we do anything. Going down the route of private, for-profit agencies is not where I would like to go. I do not think the Minister would like to see us going down that road either.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I would certainly be happy to engage with the joint committee on this issue. We can continue to be reasonably proud as country that when children are taken into care, 89% of them go to foster care rather than residential. That is a strong proportion compared to other European countries. We want to avoid any child going into care but where it is necessary, it is good that it is in a family home and, as the Deputy said, it is foster care by relatives. We need to support those foster carers. Having engaged and spoken with IFCA - I will meet another group soon - I know it does not feel sufficiently supported. I outlined at the IFCA conference the steps taken by the Government and my Department to do more, including my engagement with other colleagues. The Tusla plan puts a clear roadmap forward for how we can better support foster parents. As I said, I am happy to engage with the joint committee and hear what the Deputy has heard regarding what steps we can take.