Children in Care
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

I absolutely appreciate the Deputy’s concern. I think we all share the concern. However, I must also speak to the fact and the fact is the vast majority of children who are in the care of the State never, ever come into contact with An Garda Síochána. In fact, I would say they thrive with positive intervention and it is not appropriate to suggest otherwise. There is a close working relationship between the Department of justice and my Department, with my Department looking at it from a child welfare point of view and with the Department of justice looking at it from a crime prevention point of view.
There are more than 5,000 children in the care of the State. A very small number come from particularly complex and challenged backgrounds and it is for that reason they are in the care of the State but that is a very small percentage. In that respect, I want to acknowledge the work that is done by Tusla in terms of family support. I can list some of the family supports that are there. For example, there are parenting supports, which are overseen by Tusla and its partner community and voluntary organisations. These include parenting supports to help parents feel confident and capable in their parenting role, targeted outreach programmes designed to reach specific groups of families who may be at risk of social exclusion-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17