Ms Tanya Ward:

What I will say is based on our experience from our information helpline for members of the public. One of the things that is clear is children sometimes look for advice but often through someone else, such as a parent. Many times, however, the parents who come to us are really broken because they have experienced so many difficulties, maybe in interacting with a school. There is a need, and this might involve legal aid throughout the country, for a parent to be able to get legal advice without having to pay €250 or €400 per consultation. That is the problem with the way the system is operated at present. In other countries, people can get a consultation. Sometimes, people need just one consultation or one session, or maybe one letter, and the issue is addressed for them. That is the bit that is probably missing for us in Ireland at the moment. Free legal advice services, for example, are very overburdened. They are trying to do their best on very low amounts of money. Not enough money is being made available through the civil legal aid scheme for law centres to open throughout the country. The ones that do exist are doing it on a shoestring.

Cases that are taken to litigation should be exceptional. One of the things I said at the event I attended with the Cathaoirleach was that more was happening in the political space than ever for children. There is more access to decision-makers than ever but there are particular situations where, potentially, a case needs to be taken to address a particular issue. That is where a specialised service could be very important for families in taking a case. Funding should be made available through the civil legal aid scheme to ensure that can happen.