Children in Care
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Claire Kerrane (SF), Roscommon-Galway

The issue I am raising is that while funding to Tusla has increased, the question is where that funding is going. Given the crisis that exists for any child who is in care and while acknowledging that foster care is absolutely the number one option, I ask the Minister, where fostering is not available, to look to invest within the voluntary sector. I was really alarmed to see correspondence from America in a couple of instances recently looking to see whether people would be interested in setting up residential places in Ireland. International companies are looking to Ireland as a way to make money on the back of our care system. That is disgusting. What is more disgusting is that good, decent and proper voluntary organisations that provide homes to our most vulnerable children, and which are regulated, inspected and must account for every cent, are struggling to remain open. Some face closure and although we cannot give them the money they need to keep operating, we are looking at giving millions of euro to international investors that are not subject to regulation and inspection.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23