The government has been accused of making things worse for children living in State-provided accommodation.
The Ombudsman for Children says he’s not satisfied with the response to its 2021 investigation on Direct Provision, and is urging the government to move away from emergency responses for children seeking international protection.
This is the first time a report of this kind has been published since the commission was established in 2004, and highlights three specific recommendations from 2021.
It’s calling for an end of the use of commercial hotels and plan for accommodation capacity pressures, put in place a robust quality assurance mechanism and assess vulnerability of children in the international protection process.
The Ombudsman for Children said inadequate standards in 2021 are still inadequate standards in 2023.
Dr. Niall Muldoon added we cannot allow, what everyone agreed was not good enough, to become acceptable simply because it is better than tents or better than nothing.
The purpose of this report he said is not to shame Government, but rather to spur them on to not lose site of the commitments they themselves agreed in 2021.
