Mr. Pat Smyth:

We do not have direct dealings with the criminal justice system in terms of the 6,000 children in the care of the State. Effectively, none of them is caught within the system; 92% or 93% are in permanent foster care arrangements. There is a cohort of children, approximately 500 to 600, who are in residential services that go right up to the heavyweight, special care spaces which at any time contain approximately 14 children with very high needs. It is relatively short-term accommodation.