Rank hypocrisy - Children’s Ombudsman report

ONE of the characteristics of this society is that we have a very public and vociferous commitment to children. Our founding Proclamation promises to treat all children of the nation equally. We, in our more maudlin moments, often describe our children as the wealth of the nation.

Yet the reality is somewhat different. Despite our theoretical commitment to children, protecting them and educating them, we lag too far behind other societies, especially in the area of childcare for working families.

Another confirmation that our commitment to children is pretty questionable was highlighted yesterday when the Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon published a damning annual report. He pointed out that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, was dealing with just one fifth of all reports of child abuse in a timely manner. This is a resources issue, as is the practice of placing children with mental-health issues in adult psychiatric wards or general children’s wards without mental-health supports.