Niall Muldoon looks at child protection in other jurisdictions and learns how it is vital to unify activities between law enforcement and social work

The Ombudsman received 97 formal complaints from residents of direct provision centres last year, with some asylum seekers claiming they were reluctant to complain about issues where they lived for fear of being labelled “troublemakers”.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, is to undertake a systemic review of the supports and services being offered to children in their care with a moderate to severe disability, following an investigation by the Ombudsman for Children.

A woman and her children forced to sleep on blood-stained mattresses in cramped rooms after leaving an abusive partner had a “horrible” experience, said Women’s Aid.

The number of court applications regarding children in care significantly rose last year, even though the number of children in the care system remained relatively static.

Record number of complaints show complexities of children’s lives.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, says it supports a move to having private children’s residential care centres being independently inspected as suggested in a report highlighting major shortfalls in the process.

An expert group set up by the Ombudsman for Children’s Office to investigate areas of concern affecting children is due to deliver its report by the end of next month.

The newly appointed Ombudsman for Children has said An Garda Síochána should consider appointing a commissioner with special responsibility for children’s issues in policing.

A large number of state agencies, including the Equality Authority, have no employees with a disability despite a statutory target that they should account for at least 3% of their workforces.

A girl featured in a video released yesterday by the Ombudsman for Children says she would be “doing a lot more drugs” if she had remained homeless.

The Ombudsman for Children has said the Child and Family Agency will have to tackle “systematic problems” in providing services for children — including those in care.

The head of the HSE’s Children and Family Services has indicated that some information heard in court resulting in a Roma girl being taken into care on Monday may be made available to an investigation by the Children’s Ombudsman.

At the funeral this week of 13-year-old Erin Gallagher, who took her own life in reaction to cyberbullying, Fr John Joe Duffy called on all agencies of the State to get together to draw up a policy to ensure that no other child suffers from cyberbullying.

CHILDREN’S Ombudsman Emily Logan wants the law changed to allow her office investigate complaints from parents about the body which allocates school supports for children with severe disabilities or learning difficulties.

Professionals working with homeless children are being encouraged to contact the Children's Ombudsman.

A 16-YEAR-OLD who had been availing of HSE out-of-hours/crisis intervention services contacted the ombudsman.

THE parents of a boy, aged 4, submitted a com- plaint to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO), raising concerns that their child, who was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder and a moderate intellectual disorder, had been refused at short notice a Home Tuition Grant (HTG) for the coming school year, as the Department of Education& had stated that a placement was available for him in a mainstream primary school.

CHILDREN’S ombudsman Emily Logan has backed calls in a new report for an end to the locking up of children in prisons.

THE Government needs to enact laws to bring teachers accused of behaving inappropriately towards children before a new teaching council, the Children’s Ombudsman has claimed as the children’s body saw a rise in complaints made to it.

A children’s watchdog today suspended an investigation into an audit of sex abuse allegations in the Catholic Church amid claims that health chiefs have not co-operated.

VULNERABLE children and their parents and guardians can now contact the Ombudsman for Children’s Office for free to make a complaint about the services affecting them.

A senior academic today unveiled a six-point plan to better promote the rights of the child in society.

THE Ombudsman for Children is to brief the United Nations on the urgent need to end the placing of Irish children in adult psychiatric units at a briefing in Geneva next month.