Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)

Irish foster carers play a vital role throughout our country in terms of caring for children and the most vulnerable. There are 3,600 foster carers in the country. Unfortunately, this is a reduction from 4,800 five years ago and there are a number of reasons for this. These 3,600 foster carers look after and protect 5,800 children in care. That is approximately 87% of children who need foster care. The other 13% are in institutions.

The Irish Foster Care Association has launched its pre-budget submission and the new CEO, Corrinne Hasson, who took up the role a number of months ago, has a number of very important plans to increase the number of carers and promote foster care as a very worthwhile service to the State. What we need to do as a Government and as politicians is recognise the contribution that foster carers play. The association's pre-budget submission on fostering for a better future contains a number of requests, one of which is on pensions. Essentially, it is about taking the years of caring for foster children into account when calculating the foster carer's State pension. Family carers will receive this, so foster carers should be included. There is almost an element of foster carers not lobbying or asking for things. There is a paranoia that if they start asking for things, they will be viewed as though they are only doing it to be able to get some money. This is so far from the truth, but because of it, they are very slow to ask to be compensated.

We see the figures and there is a reduction in the number of people becoming foster carers. The work they do saves the State an awful lot of money and gives these vulnerable children the protection they need. I ask the Leader to raise this issue so that foster carers can be treated equally to other carers throughout the country, and that their submission be taken seriously with regard to the budget in October.