Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I thank our guests for their submission. It was very well researched. This is the first time I have seen some sort of crystallisation of the issue of vulnerability among that cohort of about 10,000 people, including the 1,274 in the 18-to-24-year-old category. They come to us, as public representatives, and they present in some way, shape or form but we just do not know how to deal with the issue. There is no playbook for any Deputy or Senator for dealing with that cohort of people. If they have been in the care system, there is no transition, and if they have not and they are identified as having had, as Mr. Stanley noted, an adverse child experience, they just fall through the gaps. When I talk to local authorities, there does not seem to be a solution there either. The question is how we can help these people transition and what our guests have come up with is, potentially, a way forward.

Are they confident they can get sufficient traction with this strategy such that resources will be provided, given this will be about resources following on from their organisation's advocacy? Can we sort it out? Is there a sympathetic ear at departmental level?