There were 18 complaints to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office in Co. Wexford in 2022.
Nationally, there were 1,812 complaints to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office in 2022. Falling Behind; the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) Annual Report for 2022 reveals that education was once again the most complained about issue (30%), with bullying, expulsion or suspension, and special education resources featuring in many of the complaints.
2022 proved to be the busiest year for complaints since the establishment of the Office. In its annual report for 2022, Tusla also came under the spotlight with complaints including how they communicate with service users and their families, social workers and supports for families. Significantly, the work of the Office in 2022 shows that on many issues, Ireland is starting to fall behind on children’s rights. This was reflected in two major OCO reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and their subsequent Concluding Observations, which raised concern about the standard of living and child poverty issues, mental health services for children in Ireland, the lack of inclusive school places for all children, and the State’s failure to integrate children’s rights into legislation.
Commenting on the publication of Falling Behind, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said:
“2022 and 2021 before it have been the busiest two years for the OCO since our Office was established. In 2022 we received over 1,800 complaints across the areas of education, health, justice, finance, as well as complaints relating to Tusla and Local Authorities.
“Our Annual Report this year is called Falling Behind because we wanted to highlight how Ireland is doing in relation to children’s rights and unfortunately, we’re not where we should be. This is backed up by the Concluding Observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
“The Taoiseach has said that he wants Ireland to be the best country in Europe to be a child. If this is to happen we need to finally incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into legislation – 30 years after its ratification. We also need to totally reform our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) which we know are hugely dysfunctional and failing our most vulnerable children. Changes also need to be made to provide inclusive education for all children in Ireland. “
