Statement on the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse

The Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse documents gross, systemic, and widespread violations of the rights of children placed in institutions in Ireland during the period 1936 to 2000.

As Ombudsman for Children I have a statutory role to promote and safeguard the rights of children. I pledge to exercise this role fully and to strive to overcome any obstacles that may be placed in my way. I will continue to make my Office accessible to children in all settings including prisons, hostels and care settings. My Office is here to champion their rights and best interests.

My Office is currently working on a range of initiatives and projects involving vulnerable children. These include our child death review mechanism initiative, investigation into compliance with Children First and our action projects with separated children and those in contact with the criminal justice system.

I renew my call to anyone with concerns about the way a system has handled a complaint from a child to contact my Office on 1800 202040.

Sixteen of the twenty recommendations set out in the report concern contemporary child protection issues.

These include:

-Independent inspections of services for children

-Setting up structures to facilitate the voice of children in care settings

-Consulting children on how to improve services

-Evaluation and review of child protection services

-Accountability for service provision and a culture of adults respecting rules

-Full implementation of Children First, the National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children

It is imperative that the implementation in full of all of the Commission’s recommendations takes place as a matter of urgency. As Ombudsman for Children I have a statutory role to give advice to Ministers on matters relating to the rights and welfare of children. I will exercise this role fully in light of the recommendations of the Commission.

It is incumbent upon me to highlight the following concerns raised by my Office:

>There is currently no independent inspection of residential centres for children with intellectual disabilities in Ireland.

>Children who have come to Ireland from other countries and are here alone without any parents or adults to look out for them are accommodated in private hostels operated outside of the regular child care system. Known as ‘separated children’, they receive sub-standard services despite their vulnerability and it has been widely reported that over 350 of these children have gone missing from care since 2000.

>Boys aged 16 and 17 continue to be detained in St Patrick’s Institution, a prison, despite the adoption of legislation in 2001 which committed the State to removing all children from the adult prison system. Conditions in St Patrick’s Institution have been widely criticised by national and international bodies.

>Large numbers of children considered at risk have not been allocated a social worker.

>A significant number of schools in the country are not implementing the Stay Safe programme which aims to develop children’s ability to recognise, resist and report risk situations or abusive encounters.

>We still do not have an independent child death review mechanism in Ireland. When children in the care of the State die there is no independent review of the case outside the coronial process.

Note:

The Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse documents gross, systemic, and widespread violations of the rights of children placed in institutions in Ireland during the period 1936 to 2000.

The violations include: torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; rape; sexual assault; slavery; physical assault; neglect and emotional abuse.

The Report is a shocking account of the brutal treatment of vulnerable children. For the first time, the report sets down in one place a more complete picture of what went on in institutions charged with the care of children. The scale of the abuses suffered by the children is breathtaking in terms of its severity and apparent commonality. Tragically, the report also records the very brave attempts made by some children to tell and the crushing response or deafening silence from those who should have done something to help them.

From 1936 to 1970 a total of 170,000 children were placed in approximately 50 industrial schools in Ireland. This figure represents about 1.2% of the number of children in the State during that time. The vast majority of children were committed because they were poor or other wise ‘needy’. Others were committed on criminal grounds after unfair trial processes or for not attending school. Some children were committed at a very young age, some as young as three years of age. The average length of stay was seven years.

Nearly 14,000 survivors of abuse have been awarded payments from the Residential Institutions Redress Board and over 1,500 adults met with the Commission to have their voices heard. The pain of their experiences is unimaginable for the vast majority of us. Their courage and bravery is exceptional.

ENDS

• 27 May 2009
• Type: Statement