Ombudsman calls for major expansion of service for sexually abused children

Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon has listed 10 priorities in a new document for politicians. Picture: Michael Dillon

The Ombudsman for Children is calling on politicians who are elected to the next Dáil to immediately expand the OneHouse Barnahus service for sexually abused children across the State.

At present, there is one centre in place in Galway, with a virtual service being operated in Cork in recent months. A third centre is to open in Dublin.

The Barnahus system provides children and their families with specialist interviews, medical check-ups, child protection and therapy in one space, with a bid to make it more accessible for children. It has been adapted from an Icelandic model.

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Ombudsman Niall Muldoon wants the next Dáil to prioritise rolling out the system across the country immediately, as part of 10 priorities he has listed in a document for politicians. He also wants a ban on the placement of children in care in unregulated accommodation.

The document, titled 'Tomorrow Starts With Us', wants a more “child-centred approach across government”, which he said means “fully incorporating the UNCRC [United Convention of the Rights of the Child] into law and stop making excuses for lack of interagency co-operation”.

“Agencies and departments of the State must work better in the best interests of children,” he added.

Mr Muldoon’s inclusion of the Barnahus service in his document comes after a letter was sent in July by the Oireachtas children’s committee to the respective ministers for children, health, and justice, seeking at least 10 Barnahus centres across the country. The letter was also sent to the garda commissioner and the chief executive of the HSE and Children’s Health Ireland.

In relation to children in care, Mr Muldoon wants the new Dáil to “establish a statutory duty for Tusla to ensure that there are sufficient, and appropriate, placements within each administrative area, including for children in need of emergency accommodation”.

He also said that alternative care placements should be in proximity “to children’s former homes and schools, facilitate the joint placement of siblings, and are suitable for additional needs that children may have”.

He also wants Tusla to have a system in place “to identify and support teenagers at risk of being sexually or criminally exploited”.