Ombudsman for Children receives more than fifty complaints in Limerick
THE OMBUDSMAN for Children’s Office (OCO) received 54 complaints directly from Limerick in 2022.
The OCO deals with complaints about services for children and is an alternative to court for those who are not happy with responses they have received from government departments and other public service organisations.
The OCO Annual Report for 2022 reveals that education was the most complained about issue (30%).
Significantly, the work of the Office during 2022 indicates that on many issues, Ireland is starting to fall behind on children’s rights.
This was reflected in two major OCO reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and their subsequent Concluding Observations, which raised concern about the standard of living and child poverty issues, mental health services for children in Ireland, the lack of inclusive school places, and the State’s failure to integrate children’s rights into legislation.
Commenting on the report, the Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon said: “2022 and 2021 before it have been the busiest two years for the OCO since our office was established.
"In total, we received over 1,800 complaints, with 54 of these coming from Limerick. It is important that children and families in Limerick and in all parts of the country know that the Ombudsman for Children’s Office is here if you need our help or advice. If you have complained about a service and are not happy, come to us and we will help if we can.
“Our Annual Report this year is called Falling Behind because we wanted to highlight how Ireland is doing in relation to children’s rights and unfortunately, we’re not where we should be.”