Newfoundland and Labrador's child and youth advocate has been suspended because of complaints about how the office is run.

The province's Treasury Board president announced Friday morning that Darlene Neville had been suspended with pay, and a former provincial court judge, John Rorke, had been appointed interim advocate.

In a release, Jerome Kennedy said "serious concerns have been expressed and brought to cabinet ... regarding the proper functioning of the office." He said the concerns brought forward by the Speaker of the House Assembly included external investigations about the office and concerns about the work environment.

Kennedy later met with reporters to say cabinet made the decision after hearing from the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

"The Speaker had outlined in his letter a chronological review of everything that's taken place in the office," said Kennedy, "and expressed the opinion that the child and youth advocate could no longer fulfill her function in protecting the youth and children of this province."

In June, an independent review dismissed an allegation of harassment that Neville brought forward against the legislature's Speaker.

Earlier this month, Neville launched an investigation of how her own staff handled a complaint about the care of Labrador children who died in a fire last year.

Kennedy said the Speaker had serious concerns dating back to 2008. However, he said the tipping point was Neville's public announcement on Aug. 7 that she would investigate the case her own staff had dismissed.

"The issues of harassment, the respectful workplace issues, the allegations of conflict of interest against the citizen's representative, the numerous court actions, and I will say that 'yeah, the issuance of that news release last week was certainly a factor.'"

The release didn't say how long Neville would be suspended, but said the move was in accordance with the Child and Youth Advocate Act.

Kennedy said the legislature would decide in the fall whether Neville would be completely removed from the job, unless the cabinet deals with it earlier.

The lawyer representing Neville told CBC News that Neville won't be commenting.