Children in Care

983. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently in State care whose families are recorded as homeless or residing in emergency accommodation; and if she will provide the figures by county. [39458/26]

1028. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether foster carers qualify for the Christmas bonus. [39964/26]

942. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she has visited any special emergency arrangements; if not, if she plans to; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37833/26]

473. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the body, office, or accountable person that holds ultimate responsibility at national level for monitoring systemic delays in permanency outcomes for children in State care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36033/26]

476. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether HIQA conducts inspections, thematic reviews, audits, or performance analysis specifically relating to permanency delays, placement drift, or prolonged temporary care arrangements for children in State care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36036/26]

479. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any proposal, policy development, or internal review is underway to introduce national key performance indicators relating to reopened social work cases, placement stability, repeat care entry, or time-to-permanency outcomes for children in State care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36039/26]

480. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any internal analysis, briefing material, policy papers, or governance reviews prepared in connection with the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025 identified concerns relating to permanency delays, care drift, prolonged interim care orders, or extended voluntary care arrangements; and if she will make a statement…

485. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department receives aggregate reporting on the outcomes following Section 12 removals, including rates of return home, repeat removals, interim care orders, or progression to full care orders. [36076/26]

490. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any external or independent review has assessed the effectiveness of the National Review Panel operational guidance last updated in 2021. [36119/26]

493. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any estimated costings or staffing models have been prepared for the establishment of a national statutory child death review mechanism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36122/26]

494. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the Government intends that a future national child death review mechanism will publish anonymised national thematic reports and recommendations arising from reviews. [36123/26]

917. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average annual cost per child of a private residential care placement in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and if she will provide the minimum, maximum and median cost per placement under current contractual arrangements. [34137/26]

918. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to set out the standardised national pricing bands or cost ceilings applied to private residential childcare placements under the current 2025-2028 contract; and the methodology used to determine those rates. [34138/26]

919. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla publishes or internally maintains benchmark rates for private residential care placements; if so, to provide details; and if not, the basis on which value for money is assessed in the absence of such benchmarks. [34139/26]

920. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla requires private providers of residential childcare placements to disclose cost breakdowns, including staffing, overheads, property, and profit margins, as part of the tendering or contracting process; and if so, to provide details of same. [34140/26]

921. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any cap, limit or oversight mechanism exists in respect of profit margins earned by private providers of residential childcare placements funded by the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34141/26]

922. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any comparative cost analysis has been undertaken between Tusla-operated residential care placements and privately operated placements; if so, to provide the findings; and if not, whether such analysis will be undertaken. [34142/26]

924. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the average weekly and annual cost per child of Special Emergency Arrangements in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and the total expenditure on such arrangements in each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34144/26]

925. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to quantify the savings achieved following the introduction of the Special Emergency Arrangement rate card in December 2023; and the methodology used to calculate such savings. [34145/26]

926. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the proportion of children in residential care currently placed in privately operated facilities; and the trend in such placements over the past five years. [34146/26]

927. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether time-to-permanency is tracked as a formal key performance indicator at national level by her Department or by Tusla; and if not, the way in which system performance is measured in the absence of outcome-based metrics. [34159/26]

928. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of children currently in State care who have been in care for more than two years; more than five years; and more than ten years, and whether these duration cohorts are subject to any specific policy intervention or review mechanism. [34160/26]

929. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether responsibility for setting national policy on time-to-permanency outcomes for children in care rests with her Department; and if so, the policy framework currently governs same. [34161/26]

930. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has undertaken any comparative analysis with other jurisdictions regarding time-to-permanency targets or standards in child protection systems; and if so, to provide details and findings. [34162/26]

931. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether prolonged duration in State care without a permanency outcome is recognised within national policy as a risk factor for adverse long-term outcomes for children; and the measures in place to mitigate such risk. [34163/26]