The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, has described 2020 as “a devastating year for children”.

His office received 1,187 complaints last year, 316 less than in 2019. However, Dr Muldoon pointed out that this was to be expected as many services were closed. He believes the number of complaints will increase in 2021 “as new issues emerge”.

The details were contained in the Ombudsman’s 2020 Annual Report, which has just been published. It shows that the number of complaints coming directly from children increased from 3% in 2019 to 6% in 2020. Dr Muldoon said that this shows “how the voice of the child was not being heard by Government and decision makers”.

“We heard heart-breaking stories of children with additional needs regressing and about the turmoil the uncertainty caused. Children were grappling with the digital divide and they worried about parents who had lost their jobs as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.

“Many children with parents or siblings who were medically high risk wrote to us expressing their fears of causing the death of that parent or sibling. Many were facing into their exam years and had been told by their schools there was nothing they could do to help them if they decided to self isolate because of a family member,” he said.

The majority of complaints were made by parents or other family members and the sectors that received the highest number of complaints were education (46%), family support care and protection (20%) and health (14%).

Health complaints relate to the HSE or hospitals and the Ombudsman noted that some of these are complex cases that involve a number of agencies with differing roles, such as Tusla or CAMHS.

Waiting lists were a dominant theme in 2020, as health services focused on battling Covid-19, and complaints about this issue are expected to jump in 2021.

Dr Muldoon also emphasised that while people were told to stay at home for large parts of the year, home is not always a safe place for children.

“We fear that children who were at risk of abuse or neglect and other issues that went under the radar due to school closures, will come to the fore this year,” he commented.

He also insisted that there should be “no return to the old normal”, which included “babies learning to crawl in emergency accommodation, teenagers in severe physical pain waiting years for scoliosis operations or those in mental turmoil waiting years for psychological intervention”.

“The pandemic has shown the need for proper investment to bridge the inequality gap and ensure all children are given the support they need to thrive. This is a once in a generation opportunity to reflect on the huge learnings since the pandemic started and recognise how much we can do when we focus on what can be done instead of what can not” Dr Muldoon added.

The report, 2020 Childhood Paused, can be viewed here.