Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
64. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if consideration is being given during the process ahead of budget 2024 to increase the rate of the foster carers’ allowance, which has not increased since 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32456/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhat consideration or plans are there for budget 2024? We are aware of myriad issues around foster carers’ payments and particular conditions. The Minister had said there were certain things he wanted to deliver on previously. I hope he will have an opportunity to deliver on these in this budget.
Foster carers play a vital role in the care of our most vulnerable children. The placement of a child in foster care is the preferred option for children who cannot live with their family of origin. It enables children in State care to live in a safe, secure, and stable home environment.
The Deputy may be aware that approximately 90% of children in care are cared for by foster carers, which compares extremely favourably with many other jurisdictions. We welcome this and we want to sustain this. We are, however, aware that this number had dropped to late 80% for a period, but it is back to around 90% now. We want to continue to grow that.
As the Deputy will be aware, foster carers are paid a weekly allowance, which is a payment to meet the needs of the child in their care. The foster care allowance is currently €325 per week for a child under 12 years of age and €352 per week for a child aged 12 and over. As the Deputy highlights, this payment has not been increased since 2009. I am already on record as saying that increasing the foster care allowance in budget 2024 is a priority for me. I want to be able to maintain children in foster care. I want to be able to demonstrate to foster carers that the work they do is so valued.
Over the past number of months I have engaged extensively with the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, and with Movement 4 Change in Fostercare, two of the organisations involved in the area. I attended the IFCA annual general meeting and I have met with the board. I have also met with Movement 4 Change in Fostercare.
We are also looking at other areas. Both organisations highlighted issues around travel expenses and inconsistencies, in particular the very high excesses of distance that must be travelled before any allowances can be made. Tusla has provided me with a paper on this issue and we are working on that now. In the context of the budget, I hope to be in a position to be able to address the issue of the allowance and other issues as well.
I appreciate that. First and foremost the allowance needs to be dealt with. What the Minister has said about his interaction with IFCA and Movement 4 Change in Fostercare is very positive. I have a list of issues I was going to bring up with him and he has dealt with some of them, including the pension. There have been issues with the contributory pension for foster carers and with child benefit.
The Minister also referred to, which I had failed to do, the vital role foster carers play for kids that come to them, especially under difficult sets of circumstances. Foster carers may have an onus on them to maintain that connection with the family, but sometimes this does involve multiple trips perhaps to two family members. There are added difficulties with that but we do not need expense to be another one, particularly given the added cost-of-living crisis and costs of fuel and so on.
I thank the Deputy. That issue of travel expenses has been highlighted with me. There is a paper going between ourselves and Tusla for a proposal to provide some relief there.
He is correct about the pensions issue. I have discussed this directly with Minister for Social Protection and we will come back to it, especially in respect of the significant reforms she is bringing through with the State pension. I am certainly articulating the need for a position for foster carers within that wider context of the care pension that has been highlighted in the recommendations from the Pensions Commission.
On the wider supports, one of the issues Tusla has brought through is providing therapeutic support for the children in foster care, recognising that because of their circumstances these children may often be more in need of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and psychotherapy supports. That discrete group of therapist supports is now being put in place by Tusla.
That is all very positive. We need to see that paper and the recommendations in it and see them enacted, whether we are talking about pensions or whatever else. The Minister has dealt with the issue and he has been quite clear that the allowance issue will be dealt with, having not increased since 2009. We have to look at the travel expenses and all those other benefits that these parents and children are sometimes not able to avail of. I would agree that this sometimes involves kids who would have considerable extra needs and that there will be a need for SLTs, OTs and psychologists. We have all engaged on many issues around that but sometimes we need to make sure we can put the interventions in as quickly as possible. There would be long-term savings for the State and a real societal win for everyone across the board. The one thing I would throw out is that at times I am told there is an anomaly between those who are directly paid by Tusla or on Tusla's books as opposed to those paid through agencies. If we deal with the issue of allowances, that should address some of it but it is an issue that there is a bit more flexibility for some of these agencies.
I want to promote the direct engagement by Tusla of foster carers. It is important we recognise Tusla's changed approach to this issue. It is in the process right now of appointing a national lead for foster care. I was surprised that was not in place but I know it is something Bernard Gloster wanted to implement and it is something Kate Duggan has implemented now. That gives a much clearer focus within the organisation, recognising that of the 5,000 or so children who are in care, 90% are in foster care. It is appropriate that there is a national lead in Tusla to support policies that can grow the number of foster carers. I have met with the Irish Foster Care Association, IFCA, board. Many of them are older now and we need to get young people involved in foster care. Like the social workers I spoke with, many of the new younger foster carers are care experienced themselves. We need to support them and I have set out a number of ways here today through which I hope to be able to support them going forward.
With Members' permission, I am going to go back to an Teachta Alan Dillon.
