Ms Saoirse Brady:

Regarding the point about institutionalisation and what happens when one takes away people's autonomy, some family hubs, which are better than emergency accommodation, may not have cooking facilities or access to the range of things families need. I know that in the Ombudsman for Children's report, one little girl spoke about how she could not go downstairs to do her homework in the one room that was available to her because she would have had to bring her entire family with her, so children and teenagers are not getting independence and neither they nor their parents are feeling that autonomy, which will cause long-term damage.

I will give the committee an example of a number of stories we have heard from members and others. Our report, entitled Home Works, contained a story about a little boy in an early years setting. When they went to go for outdoor play every day, he got really upset when he had to go and put his coat on because he did not understand what was happening. He thought he had to go back to the hotel so he would throw a tantrum and get really upset and it took the childcare workers a bit of time to work out what was happening. When they got it out of him, he said it was because he was going back to the hotel and they told him he was not. That same child would not speak or eat in the hotel so, thankfully, a hot meal was provided for him in the crèche, they did great work and he was able to socialise with other children. Another member told us about a child who was having significant difficulty walking. The child was about three years old and was unable to walk. They could not understand why and had to go to physiotherapy. It became apparent that the reason the child could not walk was because the muscles in the child's legs had not developed because the child was in a buggy all day. This was because the child's mother had to push the child around all day because she had nowhere to go while she was waiting to go back into accommodation that night. A good news story from the Home Works report involved Angela, one of the mothers who spoke with the researchers. At an event in DCU, she talked about how she has now been given a home and it is great. She spoke about how on the first night the family were there, so many people called round because the children could finally say that they had a place to call home and could have their friends round so there were multiple knocks on the door and they were all stampeding towards it. One of the really heartbreaking things she spoke about was the fact that she made them dinner - mash and sausages - for the first time in two years. She broke down and started crying because she was able to cook a meal for them. She has four children, two of whom are under the age of six. They still crawl into bed with her at night because they are not used to having their own space. They share a room but their mother is not there any more. The five of them shared a room for so long that they are not used to this. She is finding that quite difficult as well. She finally has her own space and the children are coming into her room. Those are just some of the ways children and young people are being institutionalised. If members read the Ombudsman for Children's report, they will hear from children themselves about what is like being in family hubs. Some described it as a prison while others described it as being like trying to escape so we really need to look at that, listen to the voices of children and see what we can do for them.

Regarding the Scottish model, Ms Keatinge has given a very clear overview of the differences there. One of the things Scotland is looking to do at the moment is to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its law. That would make a significant difference. We had a referendum in 2012 that came into effect in 2015 and we have incorporated some of the rights in the convention, for example, the best interests and voice of the child, into some proceedings but we need to do more if we are really to do justice to the rights of children. The committee could look at what is happening in Scotland and how it is looking to incorporate that further.