The Government has made a satisfactory attempt at dealing with issues relating to children, however there is still room for significant improvement, particularly in the area of health, the Children's Rights Alliance has said.

It has just launched its sixth annual report card, which grades the Government's performance on issues relating to children. This year, it has awarded the Government an overall C grade.

While it did award a B grade in the specific areas of protection from abuse and neglect, children's constitutional rights and education, the alliance insisted that in the areas of adequate standards of living, equality and health, ‘the Government is failing children'.

Commenting on the report card, Tanya Ward, chief executive of the alliance, said that creating the role of Minister for Children - this was previously a junior ministerial role - ‘is having a positive impact' and the Programme for Government ‘is ambitious for children'.

"We have singled out education for praise due to advancements in literacy, school buildings and progress on patronage and pluralism in primary schools. We also acknowledge headway with the newly established Child and Family Agency, ending the detention of children in St Patrick's institution and the construction of a new facility for young offenders at Oberstown," she said.

However, there are still serious issues facing many children. According to Fergus Finlay, chief executive of Barnardos, certain children continue to be ‘side-lined by the system or entirely ignored'.

He pointed out that child poverty is still a major issue, with almost one in 10 children currently living in consistent poverty and a further almost one in five at risk.

"Tackling poverty is a whole-of-Government issue and is something that needs to be prioritised in order to see progress next year," he insisted.

Meanwhile, according to Judge Catherine McGuinness, infant mortality rates among Traveller children are still at least three times higher than the rates among children in the general population.

"We are in danger of leaving Traveller children behind unless we include specific commitments in national policy," she said.

The alliance also insisted that the Government has broken its own promise when it comes to mental health funding. It had promised that €35 million would be ring-fenced for mental health, but this figure now stands at €20 million.

"Overall we see that systemic change has begun, but that those categories of children who have no voice within the system continue to be marginalised. They deserve better.

"We look forward to an established Child and Family Agency, Children First legislation and the new Children and Family Relationships Bill and hope 2014 will be the best year yet for children and young people in Ireland," Ms Ward added.