OCO report highlights need for a right-based system for children in care

OCO report highlights need for a right-based system for children in care

“Nobody cares.” “If I was in Government, I would get rid of Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs), they are ruining kids’ lives.” “I feel the void and weight of not properly getting to know my sisters in their most formative years.”  The voices of some of the children in care featured in the OCO’s report.

 A new report from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) sheds light on the full extent of the crisis across Ireland’s care system for children, revealing a system that is consistently underfunded and in which some of the most profound breaches of their rights occur. Let’s Get it Right- a rights-based vision for children in care highlights how the system is not currently operating in the best interests of all children, despite the best efforts of staff in the sector. However, the OCO believes there is now a real opportunity to make a once in a generational change to our care system with the development of the Government’s first ever National Alternative Care Plan and a review of the 25-year-old legislation underpinning child protection in Ireland. The OCO report makes several recommendations across eight key areas for children in care, which it hopes will be reflected in the Government’s plans due later this year. The OCO is also committing to publishing a shadow report every two years to monitor and track progress on the Government’s commitments.

There are currently nearly 6,000 children in the care of the State. In outlining the challenges for the system, the OCO presents a right-based vision for one that protects, respects and fulfils the rights of all children in care. To achieve this, we must continue to provide and support family-based care, while ensuring the public provision of high-quality alternative care options with robust oversight. The OCO recommendations include investment in early family intervention and prevention services, as well as increasing support for foster carers and recognising kinship carers; banning the placement of children in unregulated accommodation and ending the use of Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs); and the need for a review of Tusla funding so it can carry out the broad scope of its remit and to ensure it is sufficiently resourced to keep children safe and properly cared for. While the Department of Children, Disability and Equality is the lead Department, the Government’s new plan will only be successful if all Government Departments and Agencies get behind it so every child in the care system can reach their potential.

Commenting on Let’s Get it Right- A rights-based vision for children in care, Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon said:

“When the State takes a child into care it is saying that we can do better for that child. But despite the dedication of staff in the sector, we see through complaints to our Office every year and the harrowing news stories and reports in the media, that children in care are too often being let down. It is also jarring that members of the judiciary have felt compelled on many times to speak out about the urgency of the situation for children in care.

“We are calling for the Government to make family-based care the fundamental pillar of the new National Alternative Care Plan. We know that children thrive in foster families and kinship care, but we need to make sure these families are properly supported. For children and young people who require residential care, the new plan must shift away from private providers towards investment in high quality, publicly provided services.  We also want to see measures put in place for children at the greatest risk of rights violations, such as unaccompanied and separated children and children with disabilities, and for children’s rights to be at the centre of the system through the incorporation of the UNCRC into domestic law.“Our report also highlights the current challenges in the system and our concerns over the level of funding being made available to Tusla. Over the past ten years it has faced an increase in referrals of over 100% and seen its remit expand considerably. When added to other demands and challenges, such as the shortage of social workers and alternative care places, as well as global factors like the war in Ukraine, there is a clear need to review funding to make sure Tusla’s ability to protect and care for children is not being compromised by underinvestment.

“Central to our report are the experiences of the children who have come into contact with the OCO over the years, and whose experiences have helped to shape our recommendations. James* (16) who was detained in a Special Care Unit for three years when there was no suitable place available for him; Jasmine* (15), who was placed in a chaotic situation in SEAs, going missing several times and suffering sexual assault; and 4 and 5 year old brothers Luke* and Aaron*, who were placed in residential care where they had to share their placement with teenagers, because there was no foster care placement available for them.

“Children in care have already overcome so much in their short lives, so when the State steps into the role of parent, it is incumbent on them to make sure it does so, knowing with absolute certainty, that it can make those lives better.”

https://www.oco.ie/library/lets-get-it-right-a-rights-based-vision-for-children-in-care/

• 24 March 2026
• Type: Press Release
• Topic: Children in Care