Plan to move child from ‘loving and caring’ foster home queried

A nine-year-old child is to be removed from his “loving and caring” foster family and put into residential care, the Dáil has heard.

Fianna Fáil TD Fiona O'Loughlin highlighted her concerns about Child and Family Agency Tusla which she said was "not putting the child first".

Ms O’Loughlin said the foster mother in her Kildare South constituency had taken the child into her family’s care. His parents are drug addicts and his father is in jail.

The child has very particular needs and has been provided with a very loving and caring home, the TD added.

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The foster mother “has been fighting for counselling and supports for this child for months. The school has been excellent as well,” Ms O’Loughlin said.

“Yesterday, she heard that the child was going to be removed from this loving and caring home and put into a residential home.

The Fianna Fáil TD highlighted the priorities of the programme for government which she said “stresses the need to intervene early and set a path for vulnerable children, including foster children. This is certainly not working.”

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald asked her to liaise with Tusla "because of course it puts the child at the centre" and there had been increasing supports for foster parents.

Ms Fitzgerald, a former social worker, insisted that “any decisions about the care of a child in the circumstances the Deputy describes would be taken on a professional basis”.

She said it would be inappropriate for her to comment on an individual case but she said the Government had developed and prioritised early childhood care and funding for Tusla.

Ms Fitzgerald added that “again and again, we have seen reports that state that children are getting an extremely good service from our foster parents”.