Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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557. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of children taken into State care, by county, by the Child and Family Agency, Tusla in the years in each of the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40900/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The following table shows a breakdown of the number of children in care by area at the end of 2014, 2015 and at the end of September 2016:

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, 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. Regulations govern the placement of children in care which provide, inter alia, for the welfare of the child, the care practices, care records, accommodation and safety precautions. Under the Child Care Regulations, 1995 a care plan for each child who is received into care is required.

The latest figures from Tusla indicate that, at the end of September 2016, there were 6,329 children in care. Of these, over 93% were in foster care, either with relatives or a general foster placement and 5% were in a general residential placement.