I arranged for the Irish Foster Care Association to meet with Deputies from Donegal the week before the budget to allow it to explain in detail the reasoning and need for the funding asked for in its pre-budget submission and to get a better idea of the service foster parents give to the State. I am sure those who attended will concur with the challenges laid out in very stark terms by board members, namely, Mr. Raymond Nolan, Dr. Helen Gogarty and CEO, Ms Catherine Bond. Primarily, they asked for an increase in the foster care allowance for the first time since 2009. In that context, these parents save the State money because residential care costs are 20 times higher. It is a minuscule ask.

However, to understand it fully, the Taoiseach needs to hear it first-hand. We are all very good in here at saying we understand issues that we only have a cursory knowledge of. I promise the Taoiseach that if he sits with these people for half an hour, he will gain true perspective. They would like to meet with him as well. Will he give a commitment to meet with representatives of the Irish Foster Care Association before the passage of the finance Bill?

I want to acknowledge that there are issues here that need to be addressed. The Minister and Tusla’s CEO have met and discussed the issues of supports to foster carers. The Minister recognises that foster carers, like many others, are experiencing cost-of-living pressures now. Both the Minister and Tusla want to respond to this in a positive and meaningful way. There is interaction going on now. The Minister is committed to pursuing all options and will work with Tusla in the coming months to do everything possible to make some support available on this, as has been done for other groups in society.

Separately, the Tusla board has considered a major improvement plan for foster care, covering a wide range of issues. The Minister is committed to working with Tusla to give certainty to implementing the steps set out in that review. There are immediate things we can do around access to child benefit, the back-to-school allowance and the once-off payments. I have discussed this with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform as well. We need to do something here. I would like perhaps for the Minister to meet with the group initially, but I will see what I can do.