Ms Olive McGovern:

No, that was the work of the Comhairle na nÓg national executive. This is regarding the Children's Equality Commission which was not just about school but about the children's lives overall and how they experienced economic hardship and deprivation. Obviously, that was not the language used with the children and young people themselves.

The pieces we took from that initiative were what they had to say on school for submission to the committee. I will make sure the Department provides the committee with submissions on prevention and early intervention programmes, the non-formal education sector and the overall education welfare service. We checked with the committee that it had received input from Tusla on the education welfare service. However, it was regarding the voice of the child, which is why the specific focus of our submission was the material which Department has directly from children and young people themselves. As I said, the particular material from the Children's Equality Commission consists of exact quotations, the way the children describe themselves and how they experience inequality in school, if they are living in some economic hardship.

I wanted to clarify that for the committee. I am sure our Secretary General will gladly provide the material the committee wants for the broader area of policy for which the Department has responsibility. Many of those who have spoken to the committee are in service provision at the end of the policies of the Department. Much of that is represented in the practice that other people today have presented.