Conditions in International Protection Accommodation centres are “hazardous” and “putting children at risk,” a report from the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) has warned.
The Annual Report for 2024, titled, ‘Tomorrow Starts with Us,’ published on Friday, shows that education was the most complained about State agency last year (33% of complaints), followed by Tusla (19%) and health (15%).
In the report, published Friday, the OCO noted complaints it had received about conditions at International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centres.
Last year, the OCO received 1,772 contacts in relation to complaints. 1,401 of these were individual complaints, whilst the Government office for children’s issues revealed that it had received 371 complaints relating to the SPHE syllabus. The OCO said that it noted an increase in the “complexity” of complaints being made to the office.
After health, complaints about DCEDIY (IPAS, Oberstown) made up 6 per cent of complaints, with a further four per cent about local authorities, foreign affairs (passport office, 4%), early learning (creche, 3%), Justice (Courts, An Garda, Dept of Justice, 3%), other departments (3%), while complaints which were out of remit made up 10% of all complaints.
The report details, at length, concerns about children living in IPAS centres – pointing to safety, quality of accommodation, child health and development, and safety and management. Further, it says families found there was a lack of effective complaint management Systems, and that in many cases complaints made to centre management had not been responded to for months, had not been responded to in writing, or had been completely ignored.
“Many families told us that they feared reprisal from centre management if they submitted complaints to IPAS as there was no indication of oversight or accountability for actions/inactions taken by management, and no independent agency to voice this to,” the OCO said.
CHILDREN LIVING IN IPAS ACCOMMODATION
The OCO also expressed concern in the report that “on many occasions” children seeking international protection were living in insecure and unregulated settings. It said it remains “very dissatisfied” with the current situation, which “remains hazardous and is putting children at risk.”
The report directly notes: “In 2021 we investigated the Irish direct provision system and determined that it was not in the best interest of children. In a letter to the Taoiseach in 2023, we raised serious concerns about the placement of children seeking international protection in inadequate emergency accommodation; the exclusion of emergency accommodation from the remit assigned to HIQA; and the delays in implementing vulnerability assessments in line with EU law for all children residing in international protection accommodation.”
The report notes the OCO’s Special Report on the Safety and Welfare of Children in Direct Provision in front of the Oireachtas in 2023, a first in the history of the office, which was produced due to “ongoing failures” to address recommendations.
The OCO further noted: “In February 2024 we wrote to the Minister for Children highlighting that every day that children spend in unsuitable living conditions compromises their rights and well-being, and calling for the urgent need for a new plan.
“In 2024, the OCO undertook six outreach complaint clinics within commercial/ emergency IPAS accommodation settings. Individual complaints taken at these clinics and systemic issues noted across numerous accommodations, have identified significant concerns for the children and families living there with respect to child health and development, accommodation, and safety.”
Food at centres is flagged as an issue, with families telling the OCO that they had suffered from food poisoning due to both lunch and dinner being delivered by an outside agency at 1pm, meaning it had to be reheated. Separately, it flags the case of a child struggling with the food provided at an IPAS centre, saying the child was “observed as appearing malnourished by his GP, occupying the lowest weight percentile for his age.”
No provision of age-appropriate food for infants who are weaning and toddlers resulted in children being unable to eat the food, losing weight and being diagnosed with nutritional deficiencies, it adds.
Quality of accommodation was also highlighted as a worry, with the OCO noting the presence of mould across many of the services as something that impacted children’s health. It added that many of the families reported their children as having repeat respiratory illnesses because of the mould in their rooms.
“The mould was visible to OCO staff during visits. In one of the centres, there were families living in rooms with no windows or natural light. Lack of communal space for the children to play, socialise and complete homework was a repeat concern across services. Families said they were worried about their children reaching developmental milestones such as crawling and walking, because they spent most of their time in one room, with limited space and multiple family members.”
Safety and welfare was also an issue, with children living in overcrowded rooms with their families. The report raises sleep safety as a notable concern, with instances of babies and infants not being provided with cots and instead sleeping with their parents in shared beds/bunkbeds. This is despite the HSE having issued clear guidelines with respect to sleep safety and co-sleeping to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Families also reported children having to share bathrooms with adults and other families, including shared toilets and showers. Access to facilities to wash clothes, particularly for young babies and infants with illness was noted as a huge concern. In one accommodation there was just one washing machine between 48 residents.
Because none of the locations visited were subject to an independent complaints mechanism or inspectorate, the OCO said it believes this “has made the children living in these locations uniquely vulnerable and has adversely impacted their right to health, development and safety.”
With regards to resolving issues raised, the OCO said: “We brought the concerns raised by the complainants directly to IPAS. We liaised with IPAS until measures had been put in place to help resolve the issues raised by the complainants. The OCO continues to receive complaints on behalf of children living in emergency centres and we will continue to keep bringing these complaints to IPAS and DCEDIY. The OCO remains concerned that, despite longstanding recommendations, HIQA still does not have remit to inspect emergency accommodation centres.”
RISE IN CHILD PROTECTION CONCERNS
While not counted as complaints, the OCO noted that it was “significant” that there had been an 88% increase in Child Protection and Welfare concerns received last year, compared to the previous year, with the figure jumping to 140.
The majority (79%) of complaints were made by parents, followed by 6% by professionals, 3% by children themselves, and 3% by extended family members. Children aged 10-14 were the biggest age group complaints were made about (34%) followed by 15-19 and 5-9 year-olds (25% each), while complaints about 1-4-year-old’s totalled 17%.
The report highlights areas where children’s agency Tusla failed to meet its obligations relating to children – in particular those with disabilities who have been taken into State care. The case of Marcus, who was taken into State care by Tusla and detained in a hospital beyond medical need as there was no step down unit to care for him, was cited in the report.
19% of the complaints received by OCO in 2024 related to Tusla, making it the second most complained about agency behind education (33%) and ahead of health (15%). This indicates persistent issues in Tusla’s service delivery and responsiveness to children’s needs.
The report underscores systemic shortcomings in Tusla’s operations, highlighting areas where the agency has failed to meet its obligations to children, particularly those they have taken into state care and with disabilities.
6-YEAR-OLD SPENT 500 DAYS IN HOSPITAL
The report cites the case of Marcus who was taken into state care by Tusla and detained in a hospital beyond medical need because there was no step down unit for him.
It is detailed in the report that the 6-year-old boy was in the care of Tusla and had a range of medical needs, which meant he was dependent for all aspects of his care. He spent over 500 days in hospital beyond medical need, and after being discharged in 2023, he returned the following year when concerns arose about the quality and safety of the care he was receiving in the residential unit. He remained in hospital for a further 200 days. A complaint about the child had been submitted by his family.
The OCO said that it addressed the complaint, and that actions taken included a change in management at the residential unit in the wake of the case. It said it had written to both agencies to encourage them to consider the child’s long-term needs.
A separate complaint included in the report related to a child named Enda, aged 6, who was in junior infants at the time, and told his mother that he was locked in a side room off the main classroom when he had become disruptive. The child said this had happened many times.
Enda was a student in an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) class in a mainstream school.
The report details how the child’s mother complained to the school’s Board of Management (BOM) that her son was secluded in a locked room without her permission or knowledge. The BOM said they were aware of the issue and had been briefed by the principal that it was a once off incident. They said a multi- disciplinary meeting was planned with the psychologist, class teacher and principal, to discuss how to safely regulate the child’s behaviour.
It transpired that the school was not following the psychologist’s recommendations and was instead using a secluded, locked room off the classroom.