Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also wish to pay my respects to Tom Burke. I remember starting in politics and him making we walk out and back in repeatedly. Whatever type of embarrassment I first felt in front of a camera, he definitely wore it off me after a few of those struts up and down.

I want to speak about care leavers. Returning to the Chamber this week ahead of the budget, I cannot help but think of many young people across the country who are also returning to further education in the last few weeks, or beginning their journey in it for the first time. It is an exciting time but also one which brings many challenges for young people. First and foremost, care leavers carry the trauma of their pre-care and care histories with them into adult life. This trauma does not simply disappear upon reaching adulthood but continues to impact care-experienced people across the lifespan. We must consider the impact this trauma has on a young person trying to progress through further education and offer trauma-informed support to assist them in thriving in these new learning environments. Second, many care leavers do not have access to the traditional family support networks that many other young people do. While some care-experienced young people will continue to live with or receive support from their foster families, others will be living completely independently shortly after their 18th birthday. In transitioning from being in care to being in after-care, young people lose access to many important figures in their lives, such as foster carers, care staff, social workers and therapeutic support staff. After-care workers continue to offer support to young care leavers but this is contingent on the young person's ability to maintain this voluntary working relationship or his or her ability to maintain an education or training placement. Additionally, the availability of the support is often affected by the after-care workers' caseload, which ultimately means different young people in different parts of the country receive different levels of support. Many of these challenges interfere with a young care leaver successfully navigating this important life stage. We must do better for them. We must ensure adequate support is provided to our care-experienced young people to help them break the cycle, thrive in education and training and live happy and healthy lives.

I hope to see some supports or resources for care leavers in the budget. I ask the Leader that we continue holding a debate on the situation for those living in care or who have experienced care.