Delay in commissioning Child Law Project 'has interrupted oversight of child care cases' 

Ombudsman for Children Niall Muldoon: said the delay is particularly troubling 'in light of the extremely critical comments last week from Judge Jordan in the High Court in relation to special care.' File picture: Gareth Chaney.

The Ombudsman for Children says that the delay in commissioning the Child Law Project has led to an interruption in the oversight and transparency in child care proceedings.

The project had been in existence since 2013 and its most recent three-year grant expired in October.

However, it is understood the Child Law Project’s presence in courts for hearing on child care cases ended in early June as no funding had been committed to the project.

However, €416,000 in funding for two years has been committed to by the government, with a call for proposals currently underway. The deadline for submissions is February 28, with the aim of resuming the project in April.

The Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon, welcomed the funding. But he said: “The delay in commissioning the Child Law Project is deeply regrettable and has resulted in an interruption in the oversight and transparency in child care proceedings in court over the past number of months. 

This is particularly troubling in light of the extremely critical comments last week from Judge Jordan in the High Court in relation to special care.

Mr Justice John Jordan highlighted the lack of beds for vulnerable teenagers in desperate need of secure care, branding it an “absolute disgrace” after hearing six child care cases in his court.

There are currently 26 beds in the State’s three care centres for special care. However, only 14 can be used because of staffing issues.

Last November, the final report from the Child Law Project, called Falling Through the Cracks: An Analysis of Child Care Proceedings from 2021 to 2024, analysed more than 340 childcare cases across the country.

The report found that while the project had been in existence for 12 years, the situation has deteriorated for children in the care system in the past three years.

In response to a recent parliamentary question by Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, former children's minister Roderic O’Gorman said the procurement process for the next iteration of reporting at child care court proceedings started in October.

He said that an expression of interest was sent to eligible organisations, inviting them to submit proposals for a two-year reporting and research project focused on child care proceedings.

The project had been due to commence in January but could not get underway because no proposal documents had been received by a December closing date, although three expressions of interest had been received. 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

He said: “Subsequently, the expression of interest and call for proposal documents were revised and streamlined in order to attract interest in the Project. This also included an increase to the Project’s budget increasing. 

"The budget of the project has been increased to a maximum budget of €416,000 over the two-year period, for a total increase of €16,000 across that period compared to the previous budget.” A decision is due to be made on the awarding of the project in mid-March.