Parliament continued to discuss the Foster Care Bill on Tuesday, with both sides expressing their support for the bill as presented by Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina on Monday.

Nationalist MP Joseph Cassar said the bill will give children a voice, since it made provisions for an agreement between foster carers and accredited placement agencies.

Dr Cassar said that between eight and 10 per cent of children living with their natural families could have psychiatric problems, according to research. This percentage increased to around 57 per cent in cases of children living with foster families.

Referring to the Fostering Board that will be set up once the Bill is approved, Dr Cassar said one of the aims of the bill was to assess potential foster carers.

He said that the bill also made provisions for a regulatory central authority, which would allow standards to be maintained and the interests of children to be respected.

He agreed with Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, regarding the need to improve foster parents’ state allowance and the need to improve the Child Support Services.

Labour MP Joe Brincat expressed his scepticism about fostering, particularly because of his experience in the legal field.

He said the bill should have dealt with the parameters of what fostering was really all about and said it needed to clearly establish under what circumstances fostering should be allowed.

Nationalist MP Frederick Azzopardi said it was a pity that there were insufficient foster parents for some 80 per cent of children in children’s homes who could be fostered.

He said he hoped the bill would improve the situation, because children who are given the opportunity to live within a family structure had shown considerable development.

Labour MP Karl Chircop spoke about the need for a legislative structure to assist the development of fostering services.

Referring to the Fostering Board, Dr Chircop said that although the board was required to meet within 48 hours in the event of emergencies, the bill should require that meetings be held more quickly than that.

He also called for an analysis of the new phenomenon whereby Maltese couples were fostering the children of illegal immigrants, sometimes even unofficially.