Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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682. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children received into care over the past three years on the basis of a court order under the provisions of the Child Care Act 1991; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14775/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The Child and Family Agency, Tusla, has a statutory duty under the Child Care Act 1991 to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection and, if necessary, to receive a child into the care of the State. As of the 31st March 2016, there were 6,405 children in care. Of these 93% were in foster care, with 4,162 in general foster care and 1,790 in foster care with relatives.

As the majority of children in care are in foster care family settings in the community, indicators of stability of the placement and participation in education are useful in monitoring the performance of Tusla in relation to overall welfare. Figures from Tusla show that at the end of December 2014, 14% of children had been in care less than a year, with 48% in care for between 1 to 5 years and 38% had been in care for longer than 5 years.

A care order, in the case of emergency, interim or full care orders, can only be issued by a member of the judiciary sitting in the District Court, which may be part of a special sitting as the Children Court, as indicated in the Child Care Act 1991. In the case of special care orders, an application must be made to the High Court. Decisions on the variation or discharge of a care order are also a matter for the relevant Court and lie outside the powers of Tusla. If a person is unhappy with a care order then an appeal can be lodged with the Courts, which, normally, in the case of an order from the District Court is to be lodged within 14 days of the order being made. Under the Act, it is possible for a child to be placed with Tusla in care on a voluntary basis but this is not a care order and can be rescinded by the parent or guardian at any time.

Information on admissions to care, and the legal reasons for being in care, is available on an annual basis and is reported in the Annual Review of Adequacy which is published by Tusla. Such data for 2015 is currently going through extensive validation and is not yet ready for publication. Table 1 shows the number of admissions to care both voluntarily and under a Court ordered care order for 2012, 2013 and 2014. It should be noted that the number of admissions does not equate to the number of children admitted to care, as some children can be readmitted to care throughout the year.

Table 1: Legal Reasons for Admissions to Care

I have also included Table 2 for the Deputy's information. It is evident that while the majority of admissions to care throughout the year are on a voluntary basis, the majority of children in care at the end of the year were under a Court Order.

Table 2: Legal Reasons a Child is in Care