Child and Family Agency
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-19
============================================================

Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

In terms of foster care, we have had a very good discussion on the role and importance of foster carers and the contribution they make in terms of child welfare. I can inform the Deputy that 198 new foster carers came on stream in 2025, a 9% increase. Notwithstanding that, I want to do more in this space. I also recognise the demand for foster carers is increasing. We have a number of new children coming into the system every single year and it is ever increasing. However, it is positive to be able to say that 198 new people came on board, a 9% increase over the same period in 2024. That is a positive.
I absolutely hear what the Deputy is saying in terms of the need for an increased number of social workers and social care workers. It is important we have the mechanisms that will allow for that. It is projected that there will be a 20% increase year on year in terms of these schemes. I particularly want to congratulate the further and higher education sector for initiatives in this area. The link between Cork ETB and UCC, for example, is producing a significant number of social workers for us.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19