Seanad debates
Thursday, 5 October 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Children in Care
9:30 am
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State will be aware that there are around 6,000 children in care in Ireland, and about 90% of those are in foster care. Foster carers are individuals who have a passion for what they do and they care for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in society. I know the Minister of State will have met many of them as well. They are incredible people for what they do. They do amazing work. They provide security and shelter while at the same time ensuring the child or young person can realise his or her own potential.
It is fair to say, however, that the sector is in a crisis, and that can even be gauged by looking at the numbers. In January of this year, there were 3,914 foster carers registered in Ireland. That figure is down from 4,387 in 2017. The Irish Foster Care Association, in a survey of 460 carers this year, found that 76% of those surveyed would not recommend fostering due to financial pressures and the lack of support from the State. Those are the two critical reasons we have a recruitment and retention problem in this area.
Critical to this is the level of payment. A foster parent is paid €325 per week for those children under the age of 12, and €352 for those aged 12 plus. Those payments have not been increased since 2009. It has been the exact same payment level over all of that time. Why that is difficult is because of the costs associated with bringing up a child or young person. There are additional costs, especially given some of the challenges facing these children and young people. I refer particularly to travel expenses. We all know about the cost of fuel, and those parents regularly have to drive those children, often weekly, to meet members of their birth family. They often have to get them to medical appointments to see their therapist and so on. There are also concerns in that for those who take time out of work to engage in foster caring, it can be difficult for them to be able to qualify for a State contributory pension. Certainly, I know that among older foster carers, this continues to be a concern.
The other aspect, apart from the question around the levels of financial supports that are available, is around the access to State supports. A majority of those in foster care report that they do not have regular access to social workers or foster link workers. It is absolutely critical, if we think about how vulnerable some of these children and young people are, that there is regular access to those supports, especially out of hours. Tusla talks about an out-of-hours helpline, but frequently, if an incident arises, often the only recourse a foster carer has is to call the Garda. That is not the appropriate course of action that has to happen.
The Minister of State and I know that, even looking at this just in economic terms, there is a significant net saving to the State in a loving foster family caring for these young people rather than these children and young people having to go into care. The cost of placing those children in State care would be a multiple of that of having them placed in a loving family. While I appreciate Tusla has published a strategic plan for foster care services, foster carers on the ground are not feeling it. They say that the levels of financial and State supports are not there, and I made that point about there being no increase since 2009. It is my view that there needs to be, at this critical juncture, a complete, independent review of the foster care system in Ireland, addressing in particular both the levels of financial and State supports to those families.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this really important issue. These children are the most vulnerable, and the State is their parent in providing the opportunity for a different form of care for them. That is best done, in the vast majority of cases, in the foster care system. It is the preferred option for children who cannot, for any reason, live with their birth family. Foster carers play a vital, greatly empathetic and in many cases a really difficult role in trying to support children at different stages of their lives in a secure, safe, stable home environment. I am aware of a number of the issues the Senator has highlighted which impact foster carers. It is imperative we support foster carers because, as the Senator said, not only does it have the best outcome for the child in a holistic way in most cases but it is also by far the most economical model, although that is not always the driver.
As of June 2023, approximately 90% of children in care were being cared for by foster carers. That record compares very favourably internationally but it is difficult to maintain the number of foster carers in Ireland in line with demand for these placements. The overall number of children in care has decreased by 125 or 2% over the l
past year alone, though the number of foster carers has decreased even more significantly, by 147 between quarter 2 of 2022 and quarter 2 of 2023, representing a fall of 4% over the same period. This trend has contributed to a reduction in foster care placements as a proportion of all children in care. We have to think about that very carefully.
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has asked me to share a number of key developments that the Department and Tusla continue to progress in this area. I am sure the Senator will be familiar with many of them. The Minister has said he is deeply aware of the concerns raised by stakeholders in respect of the basic rates of the foster care allowance and how that can affect recruitment and retention. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is attempting to secure an increase to the foster care allowance in the upcoming budget. Foster carers have also raised concerns about a number of issues relating to supports under the remit of the Department of Social Protection, including the back to school clothing and footwear allowance and the issue of State pension contributions, as the Senator has raised. I will raise that with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who I know is looking at the carer's pension separately in recognition of the great work carers do. In recognition of the question of foster carers, I will also highlight that with her.
In addition, the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman and his Department had ongoing engagement with Tusla on improving supports for foster carers in line with the strategic plan for foster care services, 2022 to 2025, which the Senator will be familiar with. Foster carers were consulted in that process, but my understanding is that there is a lot of work to go there yet. The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman and his Department welcome the appointment of a national lead for foster care in Tusla, who has responsibility for recruitment, communications, consistency in recruitment and retention, and the implementation of the strategic plan. Obviously, the budget will form a major part of that development as well.
Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for that answer. There is, within her answer, an acknowledgment of the problem. We should be particularly alarmed by that trend that we are talking about, and the fact that even though we are heavily reliant on foster care, the number of parents who are willing to continue to foster care continues to fall. That is a trend that is deeply worrying.
I welcome the fact there is recognition that the two key problems are the lack of financial supports.I would certainly hope, and I know that within the context of my own parliamentary party I have been raising this, that we see the foster care issue addressed in next week's budget. There are other structural issues that need to be addressed as well. Such as the levels of State support available for foster carers, particularly out of hours, and particularly with very difficult children. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State would bring those concerns back.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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It is really important that the Senator highlighted this issue today. Those figures about the decrease of 4% in the number of foster carers that are there are very worrying. Of course that comes at a time of population increase of greater than 4% or anything remotely equivalent to it. Quite a number of children have come from very difficult circumstances around the world, many of whom may be children on their own, or who are in very difficult and traumatic situations having come from Ukraine or other places that are experiencing real difficulties. At a time of rising population, a decrease of that nature is very worrying and there will be fewer children in care if there are fewer placements for them. The spectre of leaving children in a situation that is not suitable for them is very concerning which is why the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will continue to work on this over the coming period with Tusla and in relation to the budget.