Latest news with #ChildrensRightsAlliance
BreakingNews.ie
25-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Calls for public inquiry into disappearance of Kyran Durnin
Calls are being made for a public inquiry into the disappearance of Kyran Durnin. The schoolboy, who would have celebrated his ninth birthday last month, was last seen in public three years ago. Advertisement Gardaí investigating his murder continue to appeal for information. Speaking on Newstalk, chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, Tanya Ward, said there are far too many unanswered questions. "I want to know what happened in the spectrum on his life. What service did Kyran Durnin have interaction with early on in his life and, at some point, could some intervention have prevented whatever happened to him? "And we don't know what happened to him, so I do think we need some sort of review, at the very least, to assess what went wrong." During the course of the murder investigation, gardaí carried out searches of properties and adjoining land in Co Louth. Gardaí believe Kyran Durnin might have died aged six after it emerged he had not been seen since May 2022 when he was a pupil at a primary school in Dundalk.
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Tusla referrals set to breach 100,000 mark for first time
Tusla is set to receive more than 100,000 referrals this year for the first time, with calls for increased funding for the agency in the coming budget to cope with 'ever-increasing demand'. A Children's Rights Alliance (CRA) conference on child protection and the care system heard referrals have more than doubled since the agency's establishment in 2014, from about 46,000. Kate Duggan, Tusla chief executive, said each of the 100,000 referrals involve a 'real concern about a child or a young person.' The rise comes alongside a 500 per cent increase in the number of separated children seeking international protection who require support and accommodation from Tusla, she said. READ MORE The agency saw an increase of more than €145 million in funding last year, primarily in response to that rise in separated children. . However, 'significant investment' in child-protection and welfare frontline services, residential care facilities and the recruitment of social workers is required, Ms Duggan said. While 88 per cent of the 5,780 children in State care are currently accommodated in foster arrangements, the agency is about 200 residential care beds short, she said. That is alongside a deficit of between 250 and 300 social workers needed to meet demand. Andrea Reilly, who was in foster care from birth until the age of 18, said she 'felt like a file being passed around, rather than a human being' due to a 'constant turnover' of social workers. 'It wasn't that I had people who didn't care, but it's a system that's overloaded and a crisis-led approach has taken over. I remember from a young age that social workers were drowning from caseloads. If you weren't on fire, you weren't seen as a priority,' she said. 'If you're constantly having to start over with new people, it can really affect your self-esteem,' she said, adding that she felt like a 'passed-around file'. Alongside better working conditions for social workers, the 22-year-old from Co Tipperary called for stronger supports for foster carers. Hers, a woman named Geraldine, no longer fosters any more. 'She went through a lot over the years in terms of not feeling supported or really empowered by Tusla,' she said. The CRA has called for additional funding of €50 million for Tusla in Budget 2026, with chief executive Tanya Ward saying the agency never got the investment it needed in its early years. Asked after the conference about the request for additional funding, Minister for Children Norma Foley said there had been a 'significant uplift' for Tusla in the last two budgets, bringing its funding to €1.3 billion. 'We will seek, every year, to do more in that space,' she said. Separately, Ms Duggan said she was not aware of any children being wrongfully taken into care as a result of Tusla staff cloning information between siblings. The practice was flagged following a Health Information and Quality Authority ( Hiqa ) review of services in the midlands with Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín highlighting concerns that false information on some files could lead to children being 'wrongly or unnecessarily taken into care'. Ms Duggan said concerns around duplication of information have been dealt with by the agency. 'Certainly, I am not aware of any case where there has been a child inadvertently taken into care,' she said, adding that a review is ongoing. 'Where we receive a report from Hiqa and where there are any findings in relation to that, we identify it as an opportunity for either mitigating a risk or learning from it.'
Irish Times
18-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on cost-of-living increases: children are bearing the brunt
The upward spiral in the cost of living may have now abated to less than 2 per cent per year but the cumulative 20 per cent jump since 2020 has a long tail. A spate of recent studies and reports have detailed how rising costs impose an unfair burden on the most vulnerable, with children bearing the brunt of it. A study compiled by the St Vincent de Paul found that many families have been left struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the rise in the cost of everyday goods and services. The income of a one-parent household which is dependent on social welfare supports – with a primary and second-level school-going child – only covers 82 per cent of their minimum needs as defined by the study. Many low-income families are dependent on in-work supports such as housing and childcare payments, even though family members are in employment. Even in those households deemed above the poverty line – defined as having a disposable income above 60 per cent of the median – many children experienced deprivation, such as not having a warm home or a second pair of sturdy shoes. Almost one in five children fit into this category, says the Economic & Social Research Institute, which identifies housing costs, disability and lone parenting as drivers of what they term enforced deprivation. READ MORE A report from the Children's Rights Alliance finds that the number of children in consistent poverty in Ireland had increased by more than 45,000 in one year, bringing the total to over 100,000. Children are the most likely group in society to experience poverty, according to the alliance. The issue has also come to the attention of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission which has written to primary and post-primary schools, outlining a series of recommendations aimed at cutting back-to-school costs. The CCPC cites research by the Irish League of Credit Unions that found two-thirds of families see back to school costs to be a significant burden. The publication of these reports and studies on the cost of living and its impact on child poverty comes as the Government kicked off the Budget 2026 process this week at the National Economic Dialogue. It is probably not entirely coincidental. The issue is clearly on the Government's radar with the Taoiseach telling the dialogue meeting he has asked his Ministers to come up with measures that 'will really make the difference to the most vulnerable families and children'. The Taoiseach has not ruled out the introduction of a second tier of child benefit payments – a measure supported by ESRI research – in the budget. He has cautioned that it is important to first determine if the current spike in child poverty is a temporary blip after a period of progress. That would seem most unlikely given the evidence to hand.
Irish Times
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland needs to tackle ‘stark gap' between ‘rhetoric and reality' of children's rights, says child protection rapporteur
A specialist children's legal service could contribute to closing the 'stark gap' between the 'rhetoric and reality' of children's rights here, Ireland 's child protection rapporteur has said. Rights should be more than 'lofty principles on paper', they must be 'practical and effective', said Caoilfhoinn Gallagher . She was addressing an event in Dublin marking the publication of a new report by independent law centre Community Law & Mediation, which analysed the legal needs of children and young people and set out recommendations on how best to achieve those. Several State and non-State stakeholders, including the Ombudsman for Children's Office, Legal Aid Board and Children's Rights Alliance, were among those consulted for the report. READ MORE It particularly prioritised consultations with children and young people who had first-hand experience of legal issues. The difficulties they highlighted included school and family problems, bullying, discrimination, stigma based on 'being from a place that everyone thinks the worst of', mental health and having supports cut off after the age of 18 The report's key recommendation is for the establishment of a specialist children's legal service here with a particular focus on the practice and promotion of child-friendly justice. It recommends that priorities within the Child Poverty Unit of the Department of the Taoiseach and in the National Policy Framework Young Ireland should be reviewed to ensure commitments in relation to children's rights include an access to justice component. In her address, Ms Gallagher said former taoiseach Leo Varadkar had said he wanted Ireland to be the best country in Europe to be a child and the government's 2019 children and youth policy was aimed at improving outcomes for children and young people. That 'ambitious vision' is to be welcomed, she said, adding that she acknowledged and supported many key steps taken in recent years to improve systems, frameworks and outcomes for children. However, she said there remain 'significant and persistent and grave' concerns about child protection and the realisation of child rights in several areas. The aspiration to make Ireland the best place in the world to be a child was likely 'to ring hollow' for many, including the family of teenager Daniel McAnaspie, who was in the care of the State when he was stabbed to death in 2010. An inquest jury last month found he was unlawfully killed and his family have called for a State apology for systemic failures in his care. It was, she suspected, also likely to ring hollow for High Court judge John Jordan who presides weekly over the secure care list and recently described the continual failure of Tusla to provide enough beds for at risk children as 'an affront to the rule of law'. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child had in 2023 set out six areas where Ireland should take 'urgent' steps, including non-discrimination, violence against children and mental health, she noted. The CLM report is a 'vital' contribution to the important discussion about the gap between rhetoric and reality and how to close that gap, she said. Law professor and child rights expert Conor O'Mahony said litigation has limits and is not normally the place where people want to start when it comes to children's rights but it is 'sometimes the only way to get things done'. He said the 2012 'quite timid' children's rights amendment to the Constitution created a charter under which the courts might do 'interesting things' in relation to children's rights but the courts had 'not really embraced that licence' in the years since. Nothing in the Constitution states that the separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary is more important than the rights of children but the courts have tended to prioritise the former over the latter, he said.
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Child-related benefits lift 150,000 children out of poverty, ESRI finds
Child-related social benefits have lifted more than 150,000 children out of poverty in Ireland , according to the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) . It found Ireland's current system of offering child-related cash and in-kind benefits had reduced child poverty and deprivation, bringing an estimated 157,000 children out of income poverty and 94,000 out of consistent poverty. The study, published on Wednesday, is part of the ESRI's Budget Perspectives 2026 series. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), consistent poverty is defined as that applying to individuals who are at risk of poverty – meaning they have a low household income – and experience enforced deprivation. READ MORE The figures come shortly after the Children's Rights Alliance revealed the number of children in consistent poverty rose by 45,000 to more than 103,000 in 2024. Last week, a separate longitudinal survey of children in Ireland aged between 10 and 17 found 18.3 per cent were going to school or bed hungry because there was not enough food at home. Cash benefits such as Child Benefit and Working Families Payment are considered by the study, as well as in-kind benefits such as National Childcare Scheme subsidies and free schoolbooks and meals. Taking all of these into account, the simulated child consistent poverty rate was found to be 5.6 per cent. In the absence of such supports, however, the child consistent poverty rate would be 8 per cent higher, at 13.6 per cent. The predicted child At Risk of Poverty (AROP) rate for 2025 is 13.9 per cent, or about 165,000 children. In the absence of cash benefits, that would be 10 per cent higher, while an absence of in-kind benefits – such as free preschool and school meals – would increase the AROP rate by 1.5 per cent. ESRI associate research professor Karina Doorley, one of the report's authors, said child-related benefits were 'a powerful tool' in reducing poverty. 'Well-targeted reforms to the system of child-related benefits could further improve outcomes for children and families currently experiencing poverty. A second tier of child benefit could be a key part of that solution,' she said. The ESRI's proposed second tier of means-tested child benefit would reduce the child AROP rate by 4.6 percentage points (lifting 55,000 children out of income poverty) and consistent poverty by 2.1 percentage points (lifting 25,000 children out of consistent poverty), it said. It suggested this as the 'most cost-effective option' for targeting child poverty rates, at an annual cost of approximately €772 million.
