Almost 1,800 complaints were received by the Ombudsman for Children last year, including the living conditions of a 16-year-old wheelchair user who had to sleep in the sitting room and use a commode because the doors in his house were not wide enough.
In its annual report for 2023, entitled “Uncertain Times” the ombudsman’s office said most complaints were about children aged between 10 and 14 years old, with 3% of all complaints made by the children themselves.
In his executive summary the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said the State is failing to meet its commitments and obligations to children with disabilities and in State care as well as not providing all the school places required.
“Children’s issues are fighting for Government’s attention at a time when there is a housing crisis, a cost-of-living crisis, an international protection crisis, and when all our public services are under increasing pressure,” he said.
Dr Muldoon said these issues are all having an “unquantifiable impact on children” yet, he said, they are not necessarily seen as children’s issues.
While education accounted for 40% of the complaints received last year, 23% were in relation to health and Tusla, with a further 7% about housing.
The report outlines the story of 16-year-old ‘Michael’, a full time wheelchair user, who was born with a serious medical condition, is on the autistic spectrum and has a developmental and intellectual disability.
The ombudsman’s office was contacted by his mother who complained about his living conditions, saying ‘Michael’ could only exit and enter his home through a back door with portable ramps as the front door was not wide enough to accommodate his wheelchair.
‘Michael’ had to sleep in the sitting room, use a commode and can only have bed baths as he could not access the upstairs bathroom.
During an investigation by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO), the local authority identified a suitable property for ‘Michael’ and he is now living there with his mother.
The ombudsman’s office was also contacted by the mother of 14-year-old ‘Ryan’ who has ASD, an intellectual disability and complex needs and is non-verbal.
His mother complained about the school getting him to wear a wetsuit to prevent him from smearing in school which caused him distress and upset.
She also complained to Tusla.
The OCO wrote to the school which apologised to ‘Ryan’ and his mother, saying that as a result of the incident it has drafted and ratified a new Positive Behaviour Support and Restrictive Behaviour Policy to provide appropriate guidance for teachers in the school.
Tusla upheld ‘Ryan’s’ mother’s complaint and acknowledged that their inaction was as a result of incomplete information regarding the purpose of the wetsuit.
The OCO also received a complaint about Tusla’s delays in managing an 11-year-old girl’s disclosure of alleged sexual abuse in 2014.
Special Care and Special Emergency Accommodation continue to be major issues of concern to the OCO.
The OCO said last December Tusla appealed a High Court judgment in the Supreme Court which directed that they apply for special care places for two vulnerable teenagers.
Tusla argued that they should not be mandated to put the applications before the High Court as there were no special care places available.
The OCO said the court dismissed Tusla’s appeal, stating that they had failed in their statutory duty by not applying for the special care orders when it had been deemed that they were necessary.
The report said many children were detained in special care for extended periods of time, in some cases up to two years as a direct result of lack of appropriate move on accommodation.
