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THE OMBUDSMAN FOR Children’s Office has declared last year as a “devastating” year for children and strongly criticised Government for not listening to their concerns.
Dr Niall Muldoon, head of the OCO, launched a scathing attack on Government inaction around a number of issues raised in complaints to the body.
He said the highest number of complaints, 49%, were around education and said that despite receiving less complaints this year the amount of children contacting the office directly has risen.
“2020 was a devastating year for children. We heard heart-breaking stories of children with additional needs regressing and about the turmoil the uncertainty caused.
“Children were grappling with the digital divide and they worried about parents who had lost their jobs as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy,” Muldoon said.
“More children contacted the office themselves to complain about issues last year which is positive and down to our outreach but it also shows how the voice of the child was not being heard by Government and decision makers.
“Many children with parents or siblings who were medically high risk, wrote to us expressing their fears of causing the death of that parent or sibling. Many were facing into their exam years and had been told by their schools there was nothing they could do to help them if they decided to self isolate because of a family member.”
The OCO received 1,187 complaints in 2020 – 316 fewer than 2019, as many services were closed. The body said that it expects the number of complaints to increase in 2021 as new issues emerge.
Last year 6% of the complaints made to the OCO came directly from children, this is an increase from 3% in 2019.
The OCO said it believes this increase can largely be attributed to those who contacted us in relation to education issues and is an indication of the level of upset among students.
100% of the children who contacted the OCO mentioned the impact of the pandemic on their mental health.
Muldoon said that he expects an increase in complaints this year as unreported cases of abuse during the lockdowns come to light.
“We believe firmly in keeping the voice of the child to the fore and I was delighted the Department of Children was retained rather than subsumed last year, however its status or retention should have never been up for discussion.
“While we were all told to stay at home, it is not always a safe place, and we fear that children who were at risk of abuse or neglect and other issues that went under the radar due to school closures will come to the fore this year,” he said.
Muldoon said that the old methods of dealing with the concerns and issues faced by children must not return after the pandemic.
“There can be no return to the old normal – where babies learn to crawl in emergency accommodation, teenagers in severe physical pain wait years for scoliosis operations or those in mental turmoil wait years for psychological intervention and where Traveller children are bullied for where they live. That is not the normal we should accept any longer.”
“The pandemic has shown the need for proper investment to bridge the inequality gap and ensure all children are given the support they need to thrive.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to reflect on the huge learnings since the pandemic started and recognise how much we can do when we focus on what can be done instead of what can not. We must build upon the momentum and transformative change that was the hallmark of the pandemic and use this energy to ensure no child is left behind.”
The report will be launched this morning in St Mary’s Holy Faith School in Killester.
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We spent most of the 14 months in this covid 19 mess, basically telling young people to stay indoors, be quiet, stay away from friends, try and get an education via remote learning, even though the dogs on the street knew a lot of schools are barely resourced enough for in class learning. We had parents threatened not to allow kids mix in playgrounds or outside, but somehow expected them to believe covid didn’t get into schools when we sent kids back in. We allowed landlords rip off students and their families in rent when college was cancelled in person learning at the last hour back in September. Yet we will now need these young people to pick up the pieces and pay for all this financially for generations to come
@Michael Healy: yes, the carnage caused by effectively shutting down this country for 18 months will all start to rear its head in the next 12 months
@Hugo Bugo: 12 months is optimistic, id say come the budget in October, the fanatics who wanted harsher and longer lockdowns will be the first to demand we probably raise college tuition fees, cut welfare and do anything but make them pay extra or take cuts for measures they supported for over a year…..will be interesting to see are we all in this together then
It’s been a devastating year for everyone in fairness
@JusticeForJoe: problem is we have treated these young people so badly, a lot may decide to leave and go elsewhere. And this is not the time we need a massive drain of people from jobs with a massive debt and ageing population that will need paying for going forward
@Michael Healy: We also need them to stay here and vote so we have some chance of cancelling out the votes of the older generations who are slowly destroying this country through repeatedly and brainlessly voting for the same failed parties over and over again.
@JusticeForJoe: yes! We may have been in different boats but everyone was on the same journey. Like the report yesterday on the effect of lgbti young people, everyone has been affected, young, old, men, women, families single people
@Michael Healy: Totally agree that we have let these young people down completely and they will be paying for a long time to come. We trusted the so called professionals as in the teachers and Department of Education to ensure this. The teachers were a out and out disgrace with the exemption of some, the majority of schools did not engage with the kids and just carried out a data dump and expected the young people to get on with it. You will now see teachers jumping to defend the undefensible. The teachers in 2 level particularly need to be teaching the month of June as these kids will need to catch up on this missed education. Norma Foley has a lot to answer for too hesitant to make a decision. Someone called her the fuster duck Foley which sums her up alright.
looking forward to hearing what the ombudsman for those over 20..middle aged and elderly has to say………
@Larry Roe: they call that the polling booth. It’ll speak volumes when the time comes.
Norma Foley please step up for your award.
It’s not like the Irish government to let down the children of Ireland………said nobody ever.
@Kevin Hill: I can’t remember the last time the youth of Ireland were given much of a chance. When its not pandemics its great recessions.
They all need to get over themselves like the rest of us have to do
@Jim Harrington: Well when you hit pension age and the taxes you have paid over the years doesn’t come close to paying for your state pension, I hope those young people don’t take the same attitude and say, why should we fund this old guy, let him pay his own way like we have to…..
Instead of the constant criticism and whinging comments how about all the know alls give constructive suggestions as to how societies ills can be sorted. You have the perfect platform here.
@Teresa O’Donnell-Joyce: Have the teachers make up the lost time and teach the month of June in 2nd level. They are getting wages for it anyway. A data dump and let the kids get on with it was not the answer. Time to do their but in recovery.
Fantastic article
Maybe look back at 2008 , all lot of young people have never recovered from that mess
It is hard not to feel sorry for children. The negativity out there is astonishing and they are listening to so called adults criticize every one and everything who’s main aim is to keep us all alive. ‘Pub stool’ punters telling anybody who will listen that they know more than Doctors with 30/40 years experience. Now the Ombudsman has pulled up a stool, instead of speaking out about waiting lists or ‘baby homes’ he is absolving Parents of having a duty of care to their children and effectively blaming Govt. I sympathize with parents who have say autistic children or parents who may have health problems but spewing negativity in earshot of children and blaming others instead of looking for the positive in life and solutions instead of problems is only going to put the next generation on ‘bar stools’. We may not succeed but at least let us try for children
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