I propose to take Questions Nos. 361 and 362 together.
The most recent data available with regard to the legal reasons for children being in care is from the 31st December 2015. A breakdown of the data can be found in the following table:
Legal Reasons
|
Total 2015*
|
Emergency Care Order
|
251
|
Interim Care Order
|
711
|
Care Order
|
3,154
|
Special Care Order
|
16
|
Other Court Order
|
21
|
Voluntary Admission
|
2,231
|
Total
|
6,384
|
*On 31st December 2015
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has advised me that data regarding supervised and unsupervised access is not collated nationally.
Tusla works to facilitate reasonable access for the parents or other relatives of the children in its care under the Child Care Act 1991, bearing in mind the best interests of the child at all times.