Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2021
168. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the status of the longitudinal study his Department is conducting on children leaving the care system (details supplied). [47112/21]
View answerThe Ryan Report Implementation Plan, action 65, states that ‘the HSE will, with their consent, conduct a longitudinal study to follow young people who leave care for 10 years, to map their transition to adulthood.
A feasibility study carried out by Dr Carmel Devaney and Dr Cliona Rooney; The Feasibility of Conducting a Longitudinal Study on Children in Care or Children Leaving Care within the Irish Context (Devaney and Rooney, June 2018), provided a detailed overview regarding longitudinal research for children in care and those leaving care.
There is agreement between my Department and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that greater knowledge of the lives of children in care and leaving care is necessary. To that end, as you point out, agreement was reached to establish a working group comprising relevant officials from both my Department and Tusla. That working group was established in November 2020. The purpose of the working group is to inform me on how the Ryan Report Implementation Plan recommendation for longitudinal research into the lives and experiences of children in care and leaving care can best be met.
To date, five meetings have taken place and two further meetings are planned for October. You may be aware, the recent cyber-attack on HSE IT systems impacted some key systems within Tusla, and in the immediate aftermath the group was unable to meet as planned. Consequently, and as I’m sure you can appreciate, the work of the group was delayed. It is my expectation that the working group will produce a high-level summary report, outlining the findings and conclusions of its work, which I will consider before reaching a decision on how best to proceed.
It was originally planned that I would receive the working group's report at the end of Q3 2021. However due to the unforeseen delay, as mentioned above, the report is now expected to be delivered by end 2021, after which time I will make a decision regarding the next course of action.
