Dr. Karen McAuley:

Again, this is an evolving area of work for us. As I indicated and Deputies will be aware in any case, we will continue to provide advice in terms of developments in legislation and public policy that offer a child rights analysis. This is a core part of the work of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. One of the issues we are examining is whether we can act appropriately and effectively, that is to say, in a way that is useful to other people in terms of their understanding of children's rights and the capacity to apply child rights-based approaches, and integrate a child rights analysis or impact assessment into some of our publications. For example, in the context of complaints and investigations, the office is looking at administrative decision making and in that respect we are guided by the Act.

We are commenting on administrative processes both in the context of investigating and subsequently writing up reports and statements arising from the investigation of complaints. We are seeking to establish how we can provide more of a children's rights analysis of the issues in a way that also respects our role as a complaints handling body and an ombudsman's office in terms of the nature of the issues we investigate. As the Deputy knows, these are administrative practices and the issue is whether they may have had an adverse effect on a child. We are seeking to establish how we can complement this style of analysis with a children's rights analysis. This is one of the areas we will address in the next couple of months.