Media Statement | EPIC responds to Budget 2027

EPIC – Empowering People in Care, the advocacy organisation working with children in care and young people leaving care, has said that while it was encouraged to see care-experienced youth reflected in the Department of Children’s Budget for 2027, the scale of the investment is not sufficient to build a national care system that meets the needs of those young people in state care who need the most support.  

Further action across Government is necessary to provide children and young people the support, stability and services they need while in care but also, crucially, as they transition from care and navigate young adulthood.

Wayne Stanley, CEO of EPIC said:  

“There are welcome innovations in Budget 2027 that EPIC has called and campaigned for, but in essence, the increase to Tusla’s budget is a cost-of-living increase that will not address the issues we are seeing on the ground.”

“Tusla has been responding to an increase in child protection referrals since 2025 and we are seeing this rising need in our Advocacy Service at EPIC, with the highest number of requests for advocacy since the organisation began and a growing waiting list of children and young people in need of support.”

Aftercare

“Earlier this year, the EPIC Youth Council met with the Minister for Children and spoke directly about the need for greater flexibility and increased eligibility for the aftercare payment.”

“The extension of the aftercare payment to eligible care leavers who are not in education or training is progress on an issue young people have been raising with EPIC and Government for several years.” 

“EPIC will continue to advocate for the removal of barriers for the many young people leaving Tusla’s care who do not qualify for the aftercare allowance. We remain hopeful that the upcoming Alternative Care Policy Framework will address these issues more comprehensively”

Care placements

“While foster carers are the backbone of our child protection system, we will always need a variety of care options for children and young people. The focus on investment in residential care and special care with an aim to reduce reliance on temporary emergency placements is positive.”

Need for cross-department and inter-agency responses

“While any investment in therapeutic supports and services for care-experienced children and young people is to be commended, we believe this is a cross-department responsibility. Children in care and care-leavers should be named priority groups across health, disability, housing and education. From our initial analysis, they have not been named in budgets beyond the Department of Children.”

“We will continue to interrogate other measures in the Budget over the coming days and weeks to see if there are additional measures that will benefit the children and young people we work with.” 

ENDS