Children's Ombudsman 'utterly dismayed' by rise in child homelessness
The Children's Ombudsman has said he is "exasperated and utterly dismayed" with the rise in child homelessness.
Niall Muldoon was speaking as the Ombudsman's for Children's Office (OCO) publishes its annual report for 2024.
"There were upwards of 4,500 children availing of homeless services at the end of 2024," Mr Muldoon said.
"We still get complaints from people trying to access emergency accommodation.
"It is clear that the delays these families are experiencing, due to the lack of available and affordable housing, is having a significant adverse impact on their children's lives," he added.
Mr Muldoon said that the Ombudsman office has consistently called on the Government to review the support in place for children and families in homelessness.
In a statement, the Department of Housing said child homelessness is not Government policy, however, addressing homelessness is a priority.
"The new Programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, sets out a number of commitments around addressing family homelessness.
"The plan commits to providing emergency accommodation for everyone who needs it, with special support for children impacted by homelessness; ensuring a holistic, cross departmental approach to homelessness prevention and focusing social housing allocations on getting families out of long-term homelessness," it added.
"Increasing supply is key to addressing homelessness. The overall capital funding available for housing in 2025 is now over €6.5 billion.
"In the first quarter of this year nationwide, 642 households, including 850 adults and 369 families, were prevented from entering emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created and in addition 628 households, including 796 adults and 277 families, exited emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created," the statement said.
As well as highlighting the year-on-year rise in the number of families in emergency accommodation, the ombudsman's report also highlights the high volume of complaints the OCO receives about children's public services.
In total, the OCO received 1,772 complaints in 2024. The complaints are increasing in complexity; 16% of complaints related to more than one agency, while 33% included multiple categories of concern.
Education is the issue which OCO received the most complaints about, followed by Tusla and then children's health services.
The OCO was established in 2004 to protect and promote the rights of children.
Mr Muldoon said that many of the issues the OCO was advocating for two decades ago, are still not resolved.
He emphasised that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is not fully and directly incorporated into Irish law.
Although there has been "much progress" in that time, according to Mr Muldoon, there are still many areas where the complaints made to his office in its 20th year, are the same as what they heard in the first year.
Complaints related to special education, access to health services, the standards of healthcare, access to disability services were all made in 2004 and also in 2024.
"The consistency of the issues raised 20 years apart highlights for us again the need to properly place children's rights, all of them, at the forefront of policy decisions and service provision," Mr Muldoon said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland closing embassy in Tehran amid 'deteriorating situation'
The Irish government has decided to relocate its embassy staff out of Tehran amid what the Tanaiste described as a "deteriorating situation" in the region. It comes after Israel and Iran exchanged further strikes a week into the conflict. Simon Harris, who is also Foreign Affairs Minister, said: "My department has been closely engaged on the situation in Iran and the continuing conflict between Israel and Iran. "In recent days, I have discussed this dangerous situation with European and regional counterparts, and have been regularly updated on the important work of our embassy teams on the ground, who are providing support and assistance to Irish citizens across the region. "I have become increasingly concerned about the operational environment for our embassy in Tehran, and the ability of our diplomatic staff to perform their functions safely. "In light of the deteriorating situation, following consultation with my officials and in close consultation and co ordination with EU partners, I have decided to temporarily relocate our personnel from Tehran." Mr Harris said the decision was not taken lightly, adding that arrangements have been made for the embassy to continue its operations from Dublin. Staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs headquarters have assumed the embassy's consular functions and remain in contact with the "small number of Irish citizens remaining in Iran". Mr Harris said the arrangements will continue until it is possible for Irish personnel to return to Iran. He said: "I would like to thank ambassador Laoise Moore and her team for their professionalism and public service operating under very challenging circumstances." The department's travel advice remains that Irish citizens should not undertake travel to Iran. Citizens who live there and who wish to leave are advised to consider departing through one of the land borders that is open, as long as it remains safe to do so. Mr Harris said those who may be concerned about the wellbeing of friends or family located in Iran can contact the consular team at +353 (0)1 408 2527 (or +353 (0)1 408 2000 out of hours). He added: "My hope is that a diplomatic solution can be found to resolve this conflict, without further escalation or further loss of life in Iran or in Israel. "I continue to call for restraint and de-escalation by both Israel and Iran." Mr Harris will discuss the latest developments in the conflict at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday.
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘Putin has blood on his hands' blasts MEP as Irish mother seeks answers about son's death in Russian air strike
Liam Cosgrove Today at 06:00 Russian president Vladimir Putin has been accused of having the blood of a Reuters news employee with strong links to the midlands 'on his hands' as his Irish born mother desperately seeks answers over the circumstances which led up to his death. Thirty-eight-year-old Ryan Evans was working as a safety adviser with news agency Reuters when a missile struck the hotel he had been staying in with colleagues in the city of Kramatorsk on August 24 last year.
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ireland needs to ditch empty promises and economic fairy tales and start confronting reality
The next six weeks or so are going to go a long way to defining the Government's term in office. The printers are going to be busy. We are due an updated housing plan, a new strategy on competitiveness and productivity, the Summer Economic Statement and a new medium-term budget strategy along with a revised National Development Plan outlining state investment plans. Then, in the middle of all this, there is the deadline for the US/EU tariff talks on July 9th. The Government needs to use this crucial period to set some kind of coherent economic narrative for its term. So far it has been firing blanks. For example, bits of its housing plan are drip-feeding out in an often-disorganised fashion. Perhaps this is meant to give the impression of busyness, but all it does is confuse people. READ MORE At the heart of all this is credibility. A believable strategy must have some hope of delivery. And here the State – in the widest sense of the Government and the public service – is struggling. It is not just that things are happening late – like the National Children's Hospital. Or that there are signs of waste and carelessness with public money – step forward the Leinster House bike shed. It is that a lot of vital stuff is simply not happening at all. It is a stretch to believe that the Metro will ever get built. Or the giant project to bring water from Shannon across the State. Or the offshore wind infrastructure that is meant to be at the heart of our energy transition , where the Draghi report on EU competitiveness showed Ireland has one of the most long-drawn out consent mechanisms in Europe. In this context, government targets take on an air of fantasy. Less than six months into the Coalition's term, Minister for Housing James Browne told us this week that the target of building 41,000 homes this year is not going to happen. So why should we believe the target for 2026 or the 300,000 plus homes promised during the Coalition's term? The Departments of Finance and of Public Expenditure will publish a budget strategy over the summer, based, we must assume, on tighter control of day-to-day spending. But key spending targets have ended up being roundly ignored in recent years. Central Bank researchers estimated this week that permanent Government spending has risen by 37 per cent since 2021. Had the annual spending limits of 5 per cent set by the previous administration been adhered to, the increase would have been 16 per cent. That is a €16 billion difference. Official documents and targets seem to exist in some kind of parallel universe where no one really expects them to happen. They are more fairy stories than strategy. And the risk with the plans coming in the weeks ahead is that these are more endless checklists of stuff that is happening already and stuff that might or might not happen at all. Some central themes and directions are urgently needed. And some convincing messages of actual action to get things done. Investment is built on certainty, yet in key areas such as climate change and housing this is simply missing. The current drift has a cost. The stalling of investment across the economy is in part due to threats of tariffs from Donald Trump . There isn't much the Government can do about that. But it can start to get its own story straight. Lack of clarity about housing policy is causing parts of the construction industry to sit on its hands. With talk of more incentives and tax breaks on the way, and uncertainty on state commitment in areas of social housing, builders wait to see what emerges. House building volumes slipped by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous three months. Meanwhile, big foreign investors – and their international headquarters – are starting to realise that promises to deliver better energy and water infrastructure are simply not being met. Investment plans, on hold to see how the US/EU talks work out, will restart at some stage. Ireland is at risk of not being in the frame. The first real alarm bell for this was when Intel ditched Oranmore in Co Galway as a possible site for a big new plant in 2021 because the State could not guarantee how long planning would take on vital supporting infrastructure. This followed the seemingly endless planning saga for the Apple data centre in Athenry , also Co Galway. A convincing economic narrative needs a few central points that everyone has signed up to. Read the Central Bank research out this week for a convincing case on how state investment remains low here, despite tripling over the past decade. This is because the economy and population have grown so fast and the economy was already hobbled by years of underinvestment after the financial crash. To allow space for investment to continue to grow – and provide a buffer if the public finances tighten – other parts of the budget need to be under control. This means keeping the budget in surplus and continuing to put away excess corporate taxes in the funds for the future. This needs to be a central part of a coherent strategy. To be credible, the whole Government – including Micheál Martin and Simon Harris – need to explicitly sign up to this. If it is just a creature of the budget departments, then it will be there to be negotiated away during the budget process. It goes without saying that the second leg of any strategy needs to focus on prioritisation and delivery. Many thousands of words have been written about this. And the challenges are significant. But Ireland, for now anyway, is in a uniquely privileged position with a flush Exchequer and room for manoeuvre. The resources are there. Spending them well is the challenge. Ireland can consider how to respond as the Trump story plays out. The odds are that it will continue to do so long after the July 9th talks deadline. But the Government needs a convincing narrative of how it is going to manage what is under its control and use what may prove to be transitory budgetary riches. There are dangers ahead. But we are starting from a good position, with full employment and flush coffers that are the envy of many other countries. The Government needs to start telling a better story – not just to the public and investors, but also to itself.
