Ms Karla Charles:

I thank Deputy Murphy and for mentioning also children in care which is the focus of EPIC's work. I do not know if the committee is aware but the Irish Penal Reform Trust completed a report on the correlations between care and justice. There are a number of findings and suggestions within that report which I draw the committee's attention to and which I highly recommend.

One of the things we have all mentioned here today are early interventions and supports. We need more data on children in care and have that longitudinal study done that has been long promised. We need to have a mental health strategy specifically for children in care as part of the bigger mental health strategy or specifically for children in care. We need training on mental health as regards children in care, including the trauma-informed training that many have mentioned.

Ms Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, who was mentioned, is an impressive woman and speaks from the heart. The point about making changes as we go along is valid, as any change in little steps is better than none. While we are waiting for posts to be filled, strategies to be developed and Acts to be reformed, we should be taking those smaller steps and thinking creatively about how we can do that.