Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 26 June 2025

Committee on Children and Equality

Engagement with Office of the Ombudsman for Children

2:00 am

Photo of Ruairí Ó MurchúRuairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I realise there has been an element of hogging the questions so will be very quick. I will follow up on what Dr. Muldoon said earlier about the idea of family supports, particularly in what he called DEIS areas. He was dealing with the fact that there is a huge issue of grooming by criminal gangs. Some young lad who sees the trappings of wealth can get a scooter, start doing 20 quid runs, and fairly soon after that he has to knock on somebody's granny's door about a drug debt. It all happens bit by bit and allows for a huge level of cut-outs from the person who is actually making any money from that. Dr. Muldoon spoke about those necessary family supports of making sure that parental skills and any help and resources that people need are provided but also about the wider piece. We have multiple pathways to education and employment today but we have many people who are a million miles from that, who need introductory pieces and to be facilitated along the line. By doing that, one can break the poverty trap and a whole pile of other issues, and avoid some of the acute issues that Tusla and others then have to address later.