Implementing and advocating for children’s rights; 20 years of the Ombudsman for Children’s Office’s in Ireland

This year the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) celebrates 20 years since it was first set up to promote and protect children’s rights in Ireland. This is an important milestone in our Office’s history, and we have been marking it throughout the year with a series of events. 

Anniversaries are important because they present us with an opportunity to reflect on past experiences, and to measure progress (or otherwise) across a defined stretch of time. In taking stock, it is also important to remember where we came from and the circumstance that gave rise to the establishment of our Office. 

The OCO didn’t emerge out of a political or social vacuum and had both an international and national context. The first European country to establish an Ombudsman for Children’s Office was Norway in 1981 and nearly 20 years later, the Council of Europe called on all member states to do the same. Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992 and in doing so committed to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of all children in Ireland. In 1998, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that Ireland lacked an independent monitoring mechanism that would be accessible to children and would deal with complaints in relation to violations of children’s rights. Following huge efforts by NGOs and children’s rights advocates, the Government committed to establishing an Ombudsman for Children here. 

Perhaps more than any other country, the urgent need for an Irish office was highlighted by the decade of devastating revelations in relation to the abuse and neglect of children that preceded our establishment. The cumulative effect was such as to force, finally, a new approach to child welfare and protection. And that approach was one that aimed to put children first – above the interests of family or schools or institutions. Indeed, ‘Children First’ was literally the title that was accorded to the first National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children in 1999.

For the last 20 years, we have promoted and protected children’s rights. We give a voice to those children who are often not listened to; we have consulted with young people availing of Ireland’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services, children in Direct Provision, those in children’s hospitals, homeless young people living in Family Hubs and we have facilitated young people to produce a report for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2022).

The OCO has also published a range of important and impactful reports on topics such as Assessment of Needs for children with disabilities, Scoliosis Treatment, Traveller Accommodation, and School Places for Children with Special Educational Needs, as well as investigations highlighting cases where children’s rights were not respected in the provision of disability supports, in the care system and in housing. In 2023 the Office published a Special Report on the Direct Provision system in Ireland.

We have harnessed the power of the office to highlight systemic failures in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Ireland, to drive the introduction of the ‘Barnahus, Onehouse Galway’ model to ease trauma for children who have been sexually abused, to bring an end to young people being held in adult prisons and to push for the establishment of a standalone Child Poverty Unit within Government.

As we look ahead to the next 20 years, our Youth Advisory Panel have given us the tagline ‘Tomorrow Starts with Us’ and we will take that mantra to ensure that children’s best interests are placed at the heart of decision-making.

By Dr Niall Muldoon, Ombudsman for Children