Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am committed to implementing the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 which entitles eligible young people to a formal aftercare plan, prepared by Tusla in collaboration with the young person leaving care. I am pleased that the Act creates an explicit, as opposed to a current implicit, statement of Tusla’s duty to satisfy itself as to the young person's need for assistance and support as they leave care.

My Department is working closely with Tusla to ensure that the provisions of the Act can be fully implemented as quickly as possible in the coming months.

At present, there are some 1,900 young people receiving aftercare services from Tusla. In the first six months of this year, 315 young adults were discharged from State care on reaching the age of 18. Some 98% of them were eligible for an aftercare service and 91% of those eligible (or 280 young people) availed themselves of it.

In terms of funding, I secured an additional €37m for Tusla in Budget 2017, which will bring its total allocation to €713m. Tusla will shortly prepare a Business Plan for my consideration which will set out how it proposes to allocate its total funding for the year. This will include its spending plans for implementing the legislation on aftercare, as well as all of the other services it provides.

It is important to note that the costs arising here relate only to implementing the provisions of the aftercare legislation itself. Young people leaving care typically receive supports relating to accommodation, further education, employment and training, which are funded by other Government Departments. This means that the part of Tusla’s budget for 2017 which is ultimately allocated to aftercare services under the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2015 will represent just a small proportion of the total spending by the State on those in receipt of aftercare services.

I believe that our young people leaving care deserve high quality supports throughout the system, and that full implementation of the Child Care (Amendment) Act will be a key element of how our society helps them to make this critical transition in their lives.