Mr. Finbarr Colfer:

Yes. This has to do with the point at which they come into residential services. Our brief is in respect of residential services, but there are many other services that children require that we do not oversee. In the past number of years in particular, the children who are presenting to services and whom we meet once they enter a residential service are those with high levels of support need and very complex presentations. They have had some level of support previously, but it was probably not sufficient and they and their families found themselves in crisis. Of late, we are often seeing services being opened in emergency situations. I am referring to children who have been left in hospital and who have nowhere else to go. The State then has to find somewhere for them, often with private children’s services. Either we are asked to register a service quickly or the children move into a service and we subsequently go in to see what it is like for them. With these reactionary services, we sometimes find children moving into centres where they are not compatible with the other children present. This can impact on the rights of that child and the other children.

When there is not sufficient capacity in the system to respond and get in early, emergency situations arise. They are difficult for the children and their families. In terms of us going into services and seeing what is happening, it can sometimes be difficult to resolve the presentations to them.