ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on some of the more indicative aspects of jurisdictional difference as regards the law relating to the welfare/rights of children from a perspective framed by relevant UN CRC principles. The protective function establishes a baseline for state responsibility in relation the best interests of a child. In Ireland, the duty to protect is to be found in the Child Care Act 1991, as reinforced by the National Standards for the Protection and Welfare of Children. In England and Wales the positioning of this principle at the point of entry to the process facilitates adoptions from the public care system and differentiates it from the Irish adoption process. In relation to Ireland, the Committee was also ‘deeply concerned about the significant increase in the number of children living in consistent poverty, including reports that such poverty disproportionately affects children from Traveller, Roma and refugee backgrounds, as well as those who live in single-parent households'.
