Children's Ombudsman condemns closure of beds for children with mental illness

Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon: 'It is not acceptable that inpatient beds for children are to remain closed with no definite timeline on when they will reopen.' Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

The Ombudsman for Children has said it is “not acceptable” that the partial shutdown of the country’s largest inpatient facility for children with serious mental illnesses is continuing and with “no definite timeline” on reopening.

Niall Muldoon said the children who require the intervention of the Linn Dara unit in west Dublin were, in the majority of cases, those who are either “very sick or even suicidal”.