I propose to take Questions Nos. 892 and 893 together.
In 2022 the Department launched a research and data programme, Care Experiences: Journeys Through the Irish Care System, which is being run in close collaboration with the Child and Family Agency, Tusla.
The Care Experiences Programme comprises a combination of primary research and administrative data analysis to examine and better understand the lives of children and young people in care and aftercare and adults who were in care as children.
As part of the Programme the Department has commissioned two studies which specifically look at the experiences and outcomes of those who have left the care system. One study has undertaken research with care leavers and stakeholders to explore the educational and career journeys of young care leavers. A second study is looking at the experiences and outcomes of adults who left the care system ten to fifteen years ago. Reports from these studies will be finalised and published this year.
The Care Experiences Programme also involves the establishment of a national longitudinal study following young people as they transition out of care and into adulthood. Planning is underway for the study and data collection is expected to commence in 2027.
In addition to the Care Experiences Programme, the Department works with the Central Statistics Office, Tusla, and other relevant Departments on the Educational Attendance, Attainment and Other Outcomes of Children in Care Frontier Series. This Frontiers Series provides insights in relation to outcomes of children in care and children who left care since April 2018 and compares them with all children and young people in the same age group by analysing school, further and higher education, and employment outcomes for both groups. The 2025 release is based on administrative data provided to the CSO from Tusla, the Department of Education and Youth, the Department of Social Protection, SOLAS, Quality and Qualifications Ireland, the Higher Education Authority, POBAL, the State Examinations Commission, Student Universal Support Ireland and the Revenue Commissioners.
The findings and evidence generated by these research studies and statistical outputs will inform future services provision to the care population and the development of the National Policy Framework for Alternative Care.
The National Policy Framework for Alternative Care aims to articulate a future and Whole of Government vision of alternative care in Ireland and will also deliver on a Programme for Government commitment in this regard. A robust consultation process is currently underway to support the development of the National Policy Framework, through which the views of members of the public, stakeholders, key workers and carers, and people with care experience will be captured.
