Professor Conor O'Mahony:

The quick answer is "No". The terms of reference for the report are appended to it and set out what I was asked to look at. I have been three years in this particular role as special rapporteur. I have completed four reports in that role. The most recent, which related to illegal birth registrations, was published with a specific document setting out the Government's response to the various recommendations in it. Other reports do not necessarily have such a document accompanying them. I am not naive and do not expect that everything I recommend will make it into legislation or policy. It is not my function to make those decisions; my function is to make recommendations. At the same time, in a context where one is asked to provide a particular independent and expert view on a subject, and one does so in accordance with the terms of reference, an implementation rate of approximately 7% is a bit lower than one might hope for. Part of the reason I am here today, and grateful to be here, is to advocate once again for the fact that those recommendations were given in response to a specific request from Government. They are informed by international children's rights law. They were informed by the most recent available academic literature. That is where I am coming from. I commend the report to the committee and to Government but it is ultimately for the Government to decide.