The Taoiseach says the latest report from the Ombudsman for Children (OCO) is a 'stark reminder' of where the Government needs to 'do better'.
There were 1,790 complaints to the OCO about public services for children last year.
The office's annual report for 2023, found the majority of complaints (40%) related to schools and education.
Healthcare accounted for 23% of complaints last year, another 23% were about the child and family agency, Tusla, and 7% related to housing.
Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, says children's services are battling for attention.
The Government is looking and fighting about housing crisis and homelessness, they're looking at the cost of living crisis, they're looking at International Protection crisis, and they're ignoring the fact that every one of those are negatively impacting very many thousands of children.
"For example, there are children living across the country in insecure and transitory accommodation.
"It's almost 30,000 children between homelessness, Direct Provision and Ukraine, are uncertain about where they're living and how they're going to secure their future".
Taoiseach Simon Harris, says the Ombudsman for Children's annual report highlights where improvements are needed.
"While every single day many good things happen in relation to our public services, the Ombudsman for Children's report is always a stark reminder of areas in which we need to do more and do better.
"I first got involved in public life and political life as a disability advocate, as a family member who knew what it was like not to be able to access disability services.
"I'm in office six weeks today, it's why I've taken the decision to set up this Cabinet Committee on Disability, I personally chair it, [and] it's met twice already".
The OCO says most of the complaints involved children aged 10-14 years (33%), while 82% of complaints came from parents, and 3% from children themselves.
📰 Uncertain Times 📰
We received 1,790 complaints in 2023 regarding health, education, care, housing, and more.
Read about these complaints, as well as our work in education, policy and more in our 2023 Annual Report.https://t.co/d7rSDtJehJ pic.twitter.com/Fbn2qlafYN
— Ombudsman for Children (@OCO_ireland) May 21, 2024
