Mr. Mánus deBarra:

I thank the Deputy for her question. When we exercise our functions in our general advisory role under section 7 of the Ombudsman for Children Act in the area that she described, we tend to do so in a targeted way, often in response to a request from the Government regarding specific legislation or something of that nature. We have not had occasion to do that kind of work in the context of child poverty to produce the detailed recommendations that the Deputy mentioned. However, we address many of the manifestations of child poverty on an ongoing basis through our complaints process. We have considered the various components of homelessness, family support and the broad range of services that are required to lift people effectively out of poverty - as the Deputy stated, it is not just about money - but we have not done targeted work at the macro level of child poverty yet. We are engaged with the issues, albeit primarily on our complaints side rather than through the advisory functions of the office.