Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. I welcome what she said. The idea of the development of services on a North-South basis is to be commended. Perhaps that is the way forward. The difficulty is that these children still have to be supported. This will require the pulling together of essential resources and a skewing of those resources to ensure young people who are particularly vulnerable are supported.

As I stated, the difficulty is that while the official waiting list may be 16 children, people from right around the country who spoke to me told me the number actually was at least 40 children. In reality, there is not a push for places because unless places are available, no application will be made to the High Court. Surely, the driving factor as to whether a special care order is sought should be the best interest of the child. It should not be about whether a place is available. Consequently, I believe the problem may be larger than it appears at first glance. However, I take the Minister's commitment and obviously, it is an issue I will continue to pursue because for me, an average waiting time is 65 days. When a court order is made, there is quite a lead-in process involved and what really concerns me is that it takes 65 days from that point.