Dr. Niall Muldoon:

I was asked a question by Senator Ó Céidigh about the child-centred approach. We are not so far from it within the service. We can start here. We can bring in children and young people. We heard from parents last week. We could have a closed session here. I am delighted to hear the Minister of State will set up a new committee. I have heard from children and young people on numerous occasions, including those going to paediatric wards and not just the adult unit. I listened to a young girl who self-harmed - under her bedclothes - while she was in a ward . These are real stories and how we would become child-centred. We would get the benefit of their experience in trying to improve the service. These are small contributions and not about big matters such as protocols; they are about how it can be improved for individual service users. We need to get child-centred. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is very clear on what can be done as well.