Ms Clare Murphy:

I might take the first two questions. On what to do if a public representative has a concern about a child, we have in place in this country the Children First guidelines for the protection and welfare of children, and what they say is that anybody - any member of society in Ireland - who has a concern about children should report the matter to Tusla. The same would be incumbent on the Deputy, in that if he had a concern about a child, that he should contact Tusla either through our website or by calling us. That is our responsibility. Anybody who has any concern about a child can make direct contact and give us the details, and we will then follow up.

Regarding the voice of the child, often if children in care are in care from a legal perspective, they have what is called a guardian ad litem. That is somebody who the judge appoints who is the voice of the child, and who is there to promote the best interests of the child. If they are in care maybe on a voluntary arrangement as opposed to through the courts, it would be whoever the allocated worker from Tusla is. It could be a childcare worker or it could be a social worker, and that is the voice of the child. That person should be promoting the rights and best interests of the child. If one comes across a situation where that it is not happening, we would be very happy to hear about that. It would either be the guardian ad litemor the social worker. We also have a complaints system for young people in our care, making a child-friendly process where they can make a complaint if they wish to do so. Their rights would be vindicated by either the social worker, childcare worker or the guardian ad litemappointed by the court.