Chapter 15 — Foster care

Current circumstances

Four (4) witnesses commented on their difficulty establishing emotional bonds with their own children. One witness described herself as being a ‘terrified mother’, who, as a result of her childhood experiences, lacked confidence in her ability to relate to her children. Another witness described a close relationship with her family who learned to live with her difficulty expressing emotion: I’ve gone numb inside...it’s what it does to your feeling...I couldn’t say “I love you”, she ...(granddaughter) ...tells me she loves me and I can’t tell her... my son teases me because he knows I can’t cope with emotions... they’re used to it.

Eleven (11) witnesses reported attending second or third-level education, while 12 others did not proceed beyond primary school. As previously reported 11 witnesses reported being kept out of school on a regular basis to work for their foster parents, five of whom reported receiving a negligible education as a result of the expectations placed on them to assist with farm and housework. Witnesses commented that their subsequent working lives were disadvantaged by this early neglect of their education. Witnesses also reported being sent to work when they reached school-leaving age in jobs that provided no prospects for their future employment but that were seen to provide an extra source of income for their foster parents. She...(foster mother)... never let me out of her clutches until I was 20 and went away...(left Ireland).... When I was 15 she arranged for me to go into the commercial laundry for 2 and a half years. She collected the money for that, I never saw it. There was...X number...of us there and no records. I went to...named hospital...after that and I have no records there either...invisible...I can’t get a pension you see because there is no records and no contributions paid, they said that was because it was a training school. I don’t know what we were training for...I was on men’s shirts, ironing them for 2 years.

Table 86, which follows, shows the highest level of education attended, but not necessarily completed, by witnesses reporting abuse in foster care placements:

Highest level of education	Males	Females	Total witnesses
Primary	4	8	12
Secondary	3	4	7
Third level	1	3	4
Unavailable	0	1	1
Total	8	16	24

Seven (7) witnesses reported being employed at the time of their hearings, seven others were retired, and a further three witnesses reported being actively engaged in home duties. Five (5) witnesses reported being unemployed at the time of their hearing, having been previously employed, and two witnesses had been out of work for several years and were in receipt of disability income.

Thirteen (13) witnesses reported having been in stable employment for between 10 and 50 years. Male witnesses reported being principally employed in skilled trade and labouring positions and female witnesses reported that they worked in a range of domestic and service positions. Two (2) female witnesses trained in professional occupations and two others were promoted to positions of responsibility in administrative occupations.

Six (6) female witnesses reported that they were occupied in home duties for most of their lives, having worked briefly in unskilled positions before they married. Five (5) witnesses reported that they never worked for any substantial period of time. They described themselves as unable to deal with authority and/or cope with the demands and expectations of the workplace: ‘The only thing I know is how to survive, I don’t know how to progress.’

Most witnesses reported having stable and secure living arrangements at the time of their hearings. A small number of witnesses were dependant on the private rental market, community support services, or the support of relatives. Three (3) witnesses reported having experienced long periods of homelessness and instability in the past and four others reported having been dependant on the goodwill of their foster families for shelter in later adolescence and adulthood. I’ve never really had my own place, I’ve been just pushed and pushed around...I always dream that I could have a home where I could put my head down and nobody could come in through that wall... • The thing about orphans is that when we get into trouble the only place they can put us is into prison...because we don’t have homes to go to, we don’t have people to latch onto...

At the time of their hearing witnesses described their accommodation as follows: Ten (10) witnesses owned their own homes. Eight (8) witnesses lived in local authority housing. Four (4) witnesses were living in private rented or sheltered accommodation. Two (2) witnesses lived with relatives.

During the course of their hearings witnesses provided general information regarding their health and well-being, either directly or while describing other aspects of their lives. For the purpose of writing this Report the Committee categorised the witnesses’ physical and mental health status as good, reasonable or poor based on the information they provided about their past and current health history.

All 24 witnesses reported either good or reasonable physical health circumstances, 10 of whom described themselves as experiencing good physical health without any particular health problems that affected their day-to-day functioning.

Fourteen (14) witnesses were categorised as having a reasonable level of physical health. They reported histories of ongoing illness and physical complaints that have had some impact on their everyday functioning, but were not debilitating. Three (3) of the witnesses reported having digestive problems that required surgery. Two (2) other witnesses reported that they have been treated for cancer and a further five witnesses reported suffering with arthritis, kidney problems, and the physical symptoms associated with an eating disorder.

Four (4) of the14 witnesses who described reasonable health circumstances reported physical impairments as a result of congenital deformities and childhood illnesses, including polio. In each instance the witness reported that their physical disability has had negative consequences and affected their availability for work to varying degrees.

Witnesses who reported being abused in foster care reported more mental health difficulties than physical health concerns.

Seven (7) witnesses, three male and four female, described poor mental health circumstances and reported being hospitalised for the treatment of depression and suicide attempts, recently and in the past. Several witnesses described themselves as having nervous dispositions and being in need of ongoing professional support. They also reported that their ability to work and maintain positive social relationships has been restricted by their mental health difficulties.

Seven (7) witnesses reported their mental health as good, three of them described experiencing low moods at times but being generally able to maintain a positive attitude. Ten (10) witnesses gave accounts of reasonably stable mental health. They described themselves as suffering with depression or anxiety attacks either currently or in the past, which they manage with the assistance of counselling, medication and other types of support.