Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman. I welcome Dr. Muldoon and thank him for his presentation. I wish him well in his role. I wish to pass on the apologies of my colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin. Unfortunately, questions to the Minister for Health are clashing with this meeting and he is on his feet in the Chamber as we speak.

Some of the points I wish to raise with Dr. Muldoon have already been touched on. The first point I want to speak about is direct provision. Dr. Muldoon said the Ombudsman for Children is mandated to promote and monitor rights of all children in Ireland. I raised this important issue with the Minister on a number of occasions and asked whether he agreed he is the Minister with responsibility for all children on this island and, therefore, has a responsibility to investigate the many tragic deaths of children in direct provision and the precarious living conditions for those children. Unfortunately, he sidestepped the question by passing it over to the Department of Justice and Equality. What are the views of Dr. Muldoon on the matter? Dr. Muldoon has also stated that despite changes made the office is still seeking to clarify the remit in respect of direct provision. What is the process for that clarification? What progress has been made? Will a decision be made on the matter any time soon?

Has Dr. Muldoon ever had a complaint from someone in direct provision? What would happen to such a complaint if it is not under the remit of the Ombudsman for Children? I agree with Deputy Troy in that I believe this will be the next scandal to hit the State and if we do not do something and act on it now, then in 20 years' time we are going to have another inquiry similar to the mother and baby homes inquiry. It is simply not acceptable.

Reference has been made to homelessness. Colm O'Gorman of Amnesty International recently made the salient point post-marriage referendum that he hoped the wave of public awareness and support around the issue of equal rights would spill over to people fighting for a more equal Irish society. Unfortunately, we have children who are homeless and living in poverty. How many cases is the ombudsman currently adjudicating on relating to homeless children? How does this bear out nationally? Has the Ombudsman for Children made any decisions on these matters? If the Ombudsman for Children makes a decision in this area, what implication does it have with regard to all the other homeless children? The homeless children to which Dr. Muldoon adverted are living in hotels, but we have serious overcrowding as well whereby whole families are living in one room and children are sleeping on sofas. That is another issue which, unfortunately, needs to be addressed.

Dr. Muldoon mentioned staffing. He said the Office of the Ombudsman for Children is understaffed currently and that this impacts on how the organisation can do its job. Is the Ombudsman for Children currently under-funded and, if so, by how much? Is the organisation in a position to be able to stand still currently or is it fighting against the wind? Would the office have all the necessary resources to do the job if the staffing issues were resolved in the coming months?

Dr. Muldoon mentioned that the majority of complaints are brought on behalf of children by their parents. I gather that accounts for 75%. What is the make-up of the other 25%? How long does it take, roughly, to investigate a complaint? I realise some are more complex than others but in the overall scheme of things does it take long to actually investigate a complaint?

Several issues come through our constituency offices. One that comes up on a regular basis relates to children who are waiting for assessments. Parents come to us because of constant breaches of the Disability Act. The Act provides that children should be seen within three months but often it is eight or nine months and the delay is getting even longer. Given the increase in the number of caseloads for the office, does this mean it will get an increase in funding and staff to actually deal with them?

Dr. Muldoon referred to mental health and in that context to the suicidal 12-year old child who might have to wait a year to be allocated to or to see a social worker. If someone made a complaint to Office of the Ombudsman for Children, how long would it take to make a decision on the case? Would it be quicker than waiting to see a social worker? I do not think I have any further questions so I will leave it at that for the moment.