Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Taoiseach watched the recent "Prime Time" programme on wardships and wards of court. Families have spoken about the shocking manner they have been treated in the wards of court system. Wards of court lose their autonomy and civil rights and the right to make decisions. One of the biggest issues they have experienced in the past 15 years is the collapse in the funds that were given to them so they can survive and provide for themselves. Since as far back as 2001, the Committee of Public Accounts and others have been focusing on the need for oversight of those funds. When the law changed in 2005, it again stated there needed to be oversight. Every annual report from 2005 to 2013 stated there needed to be oversight. For some reason, the objective of oversight was dropped in 2018. The families are left with massive questions in respect of why significant sums of money that were given to wards of court so they could pay for all of their life-changing experiences have disappeared as a result of a collapse in the financial system. They want to know who is responsible, what decisions were made and who will be held to account.

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