Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Ms Farrell for being a little late. The rain in Dublin city makes everything grind to a halt. Perhaps some of our questions will be put to the representatives of the Courts Service because Justice for Wards has outlined very clearly the problems facing wards.

On reading the documentation, I was struck by the point that it is unfair to compare the management of the funds with the management of pension funds, for example, because this is a unique situation in which one is dealing with the lifetime needs of wards of court. In that context, the issue around strategy 4 arises. While the delegates would accept the position on exposure in any financial dealings, as implied in the views of the independent assessment commission previously and by the Courts Service, the point they are trying to make is that this is that their funds were subject to full exposure. In that sense, what remedy is being put in place for the delegates' loved ones whose funds are being depleted? Around the time the delegates' money was being invested, or whatever one wants to call it, the system changed and amounts were held in cash. What corrective measures were put in place to deal with the fact that the money of the delegates was not treated like that?

It struck me that the delegates have never or have hardly ever - I am not fully sure which - been given any statements of accounts from the Courts Service over all the years in respect of how the money was handled. They do not get any statements and are not consulted on how the funds are managed.