Ms Catherine Bond:

The Senator's first question was about whether there was an identifiable juncture where things deteriorated. I alluded to that my opening statement. When children in the care of the State were under the HSE, they had rights and were prioritised for services. That positive discrimination for children in the care of the State was lost in translation when the Child and Family Agency was established. If there was one thing to come from this meeting, it is that we should look to have that reinstated very quickly.

On the legislative infrastructure, the rights of the child are enshrined in our Constitution. This country has ratified the UN Convention with regard to children with disabilities, children's voices and children's right to be heard. We should focus on what we already have in place and try to work better and hold the Government to account. Children's voices are not being heard and services are not being offered to children. The Ombudsman for Children has highlighted the deficiencies for children with disabilities and children accessing services. We already have pillars that we can use make them work for us better. We are also reviewing the Child Care Act at the moment. Foster carers spend an inordinate amount of time fighting for the rights of children and fighting for services for them when their time is best spent supporting those children. We in IFCA spend copious amounts of time advocating for foster carers. We have an advocacy service that supports foster carers when allegations of abuse are made against them, which is a very traumatic experience for foster carers. Their lives and those of their families are held in suspension for weeks and months, or in some cases years, before there is an outcome from an allegation of abuse made against them. We have a tall order of work to do but we have the infrastructure within our current legislation if we could make it work.