Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth
General Scheme of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed)
Ms Marissa Ryan:
It is not. There is no right to an independent advocate. We are funded by Tusla, which, as the committee heard last week, gave robust support for independent advocacy to be enshrined, as did the Ombudsman for Children. At the moment, there is no provision so we are funded through a service level agreement and we have nine advocates to service the entire country.