Ms Grainia Long:

Too many children are falling through the cracks. We see too many children daily who only arrive at our door because maybe a social worker has, in an interview with a parent or another family member, triggered something in the child and they have spotted something. A very foresightful social worker will refer a child to us. For every one of those children there are many others who never get that opportunity. Sometimes we cannot help the child because we have a waiting list. Only recently we had a child who witnessed sexual violence in the home and only came to us by dint of two or three of the right people being in the right place. On the face of it, this Bill could formalise institutionally the rights of children to access services. Many children would be forever grateful if it is formalised in legislation because there are too many gaps.