Mr. Rory Brown:

I was thinking about this as I was driving up here today. I have been on EPIC's youth council for five years but it is only in the last two years that I have seen massive progress in us talking about the care system, talking about changing the system and wanting to make that change. Ms Ryan spoke about the Magdalen laundries. There have been so many issues in the past but they have been covered over. It is only now that we are starting to talk about these things and talk about the care system, how we can improve it and how we need to focus on the child and giving the child a voice. That is one of the biggest things. Once you give a child a voice, you can start improving things. Lately we were working with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, on the national access plan. We are lucky that care leavers are finally mentioned in the national access plan for the first time, even though this is the fourth access plan. That is just amazing. We are finally being noticed. People are finally starting to realise we need to do something for these kids to ensure they can succeed. That notice is only just starting to happen. The more we get a voice to young people with care experience, the more we can change the system for the better and work on that.

When we talk about the State, it is in loco parentis. It is supposed to be the caregiver of that child. It is important that we have legislation that holds the State responsible for the needs of a child. At the moment, those responsibilities are being landed on people like myself or teachers in the classroom. They have to do it because children do not have the services or places to go to get that support so teachers, foster carers and social workers are doing it. They are not trained properly to deal with that or provide the supports the child needs. That is very important. If we can help children get the support quicker and hold the Government responsible for that, that would be massive in ensuring they get the support they need.