Ms Marissa Ryan:

I believe Ireland should legislate for economic, social and cultural rights. Our Constitution now only recognises the right to education. It does not contain the right to housing or other things. Were we to legislate for economic, social and cultural rights, that would bring us more into line with human rights law.

Turning to the Senator's other question, while I think the societal conditions that result in children being brought into care, as I said earlier, have worsened and that there is an inequality crisis in Ireland, and Senator Clonan has explained succinctly why this is, I do not think it is fair to say the care system itself has deteriorated in line with those conditions. In EPIC, while we have seen that there is so much more to be done, so much that can be done better and major requirements for investment in political will, we have also seen advances in the care system in the last decade. Mr. Brown will speak more succinctly to this point, but we have seen much progress within Tusla, better awareness of the situation of children in care and the advent of services that are more specific. In that context, we do have people like Ms Bairéad who are brilliant, are advocates and are out there talking about the situation of children in care. We also have a thriving civil society, including IFCA and others.

Where we would like to see a better understanding of the care system reflected is in enshrining the different rights which should exist. I refer not just to economic, social and cultural rights more broadly, but, for example, the right of children in the care system to be heard in line with Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC. This could be done through having aspects such as independent advocacy contained in legislation, as it is in other EU member states. In EPIC, we were recently given the most humbling donation, namely, the proceeds of the Justice for Magdalenes research group's books.

The authors of the book Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justiceasked the survivors who gave their testimony what they wanted done with the royalties. They asked that they be given to EPIC because they wanted to make sure that no child in care or a care-experienced young person ever had to live without having a voice. We feel very humbled by that. It subsequently happened again with the second book, about redress. We feel very strongly that independent advocacy should be enshrined in legislation. As the members can see, all children in care and young people with care experience have a voice but that voice is seldom heard. We are here today to further facilitate young people to speak directly to their experiences. It should not be incumbent on an NGO like EPIC. That is something the State should look for, believe in and want to seek out proactively.