At present, orphan's payments in respect of children in foster care are made by my Department directly to the relevant health board which then combines the payment with the foster care allowance to make a total payment to the foster carer of €281.50 in respect of a child under 12 years and €308.50 in respect of a child aged 12 or over. A working group, which included officials from my Department and the Department of Health and Children, was established to examine payments to orphans and the foster care allowance. In line with the group's recommendations, section 9, in effect, ensures that while foster carers will continue to receive the same level of payment, this payment will be made by one agency only – the relevant health board. Health boards will now have full financial responsibility for supporting children in foster care and orphan's contributory allowance and orphan's non-contributory pension shall no longer be payable to children in respect of whom foster care allowance is being paid. However, orphan's payments will continue to be made by my Department where entitlement to such payments is established and where a foster care allowance is not in payment.