Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would have loved this Bill to go further. We had the discussion about changing "may" to "shall". That does not take away from the importance of the Bill, which will now go to the Lower House. I am a big believer that change is incremental. I therefore welcome the passage of the Bill through the House. I received correspondence from the Care Leavers' Network, which highlighted the importance of acting much earlier. Even when a child is 16, it can be too late. It is important to provide these young people with an education, housing rather than homeless accommodation, and continuing traditional, holistic and medical therapy, if required. They often suffer post-traumatic stress and they need to be helped. Family support should be offered, with opportunities for family therapy, especially with respect to sibling relationships. We often consider the parent and the child, but the sibling relationships are neglected.

More needs to be done for these children. None of us wants to read reports on children who have died in the care of the State, and we all want to do better. The Bill is a significant step in that direction and I thank the Minister and his officials for all the work they have done and for taking on the considerations of the Joint Committee on Health and Children during its hearings, which we greatly appreciate. I hope the legislation will be enacted in the coming weeks.