Government fails to be pinned down on children’s rights

PROTESTERS, the Children’s Rights Alliance and the Ombudsman for Children expressed disappointment leaving Geneva last night without pinning down the Government on when it will substantially revise its children’s policy.

A cohort of non-governmental organisations had made detailed submissions to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), but left the eight-hour session feeling that Minister Brian Lenihan had wriggled off the hook.

The minister and his inter-departmental delegation had to explain the systems affecting the welfare of Irish children at length, but the travelling party, more familiar with the situation back home, remained cynical about the answers given.