Children's Ombudsman 'utterly dismayed' by rise in child homelessness

RTÉ News​

22-05-2025

The Children's Ombudsman has said he is "exasperated and utterly dismayed" with the rise in child homelessness.
Niall Muldoon was speaking as the Ombudsman's for Children's Office (OCO) publishes its annual report for 2024.
"There were upwards of 4,500 children availing of homeless services at the end of 2024," Mr Muldoon said.
"We still get complaints from people trying to access emergency accommodation.
"It is clear that the delays these families are experiencing, due to the lack of available and affordable housing, is having a significant adverse impact on their children's lives," he added.
Mr Muldoon said that the Ombudsman office has consistently called on the Government to review the support in place for children and families in homelessness.
In a statement, the Department of Housing said child homelessness is not Government policy, however, addressing homelessness is a priority.
"The new Programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, sets out a number of commitments around addressing family homelessness.
"The plan commits to providing emergency accommodation for everyone who needs it, with special support for children impacted by homelessness; ensuring a holistic, cross departmental approach to homelessness prevention and focusing social housing allocations on getting families out of long-term homelessness," it added.
"Increasing supply is key to addressing homelessness. The overall capital funding available for housing in 2025 is now over €6.5 billion.
"In the first quarter of this year nationwide, 642 households, including 850 adults and 369 families, were prevented from entering emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created and in addition 628 households, including 796 adults and 277 families, exited emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created," the statement said.
As well as highlighting the year-on-year rise in the number of families in emergency accommodation, the ombudsman's report also highlights the high volume of complaints the OCO receives about children's public services.
In total, the OCO received 1,772 complaints in 2024. The complaints are increasing in complexity; 16% of complaints related to more than one agency, while 33% included multiple categories of concern.
Education is the issue which OCO received the most complaints about, followed by Tusla and then children's health services.
The OCO was established in 2004 to protect and promote the rights of children.
Mr Muldoon said that many of the issues the OCO was advocating for two decades ago, are still not resolved.
He emphasised that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is not fully and directly incorporated into Irish law.
Although there has been "much progress" in that time, according to Mr Muldoon, there are still many areas where the complaints made to his office in its 20th year, are the same as what they heard in the first year.
Complaints related to special education, access to health services, the standards of healthcare, access to disability services were all made in 2004 and also in 2024.
"The consistency of the issues raised 20 years apart highlights for us again the need to properly place children's rights, all of them, at the forefront of policy decisions and service provision," Mr Muldoon said.