Concern for the safety and welfare of children in Direct Provision has led the Ombudsman for Children to submit a special report to the Houses of the Oireachtas due to inaction by the Government to implement recommendations previously proposed.
It is the first time the Ombudsman for Children's Office has used its power to lay a report down in this manner since it was established 20 years ago.
At the heart of the matter is a concern over the accommodation of children in Direct Provision. This is despite the Ombudsman, Dr Niall Muldoon, raising the issue in a report published in 2021.
In his latest special report, the Ombudsman has condensed his concerns about children in the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) down to three issues: The use of temporary accommodation, inspections and monitoring of centres where children are living and vulnerability assessments of children.
While the report acknowledged that the onset of war in the Ukraine has precipitated "a crisis-driven response" with "unprecedented challenges" for the Government, it also notes the "potential adverse effect on the rights and welfare of children" residing in State provided accommodation.
The Ombudsman has previously described commercial hotels as inappropriate and unprotected settings for children to live in, yet by early June this year, 16,804 child beneficiaries of temporary protection were living in hotels.
The average length of their stay was seven to eight months.
In late May/early June, 2,441 children, or 54% of the 4,528 total, who were seeking international protection were residing in emergency accommodation centres.
Based on the average number of international protection applications over the previous ten years, the White Paper on ending Direct Provision originally envisaged 3,500 new international protection arrivals per year.
However, last year, accommodation demand by international protection applicants alone was fivefold that estimation.
Dr Muldoon said that, according to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, its request for tender for accommodation centres has only secured approximately 740 beds to date.
Despite the need for State capacity, the Ombudsman pointed out that the Department expected to utilise emergency accommodation centres for as long as contracts exist.
"This puts the White Paper vision of own-door and self-contained housing out of reach for IP families, who are - in many cases - already encountering private vendor, community, and local authority, resistance to their presence", he has said.
Dr Muldoon said he was not satisfied that IPAS’s commitment to cease the use of commercial hotels will be met in the short to medium term.
Robust quality assurance
The Ombudsman is concerned that children residing in emergency accommodation centres will not be protected by the safeguards that are in place (or are due to be put in place) in designated accommodation centres.
In April 2021, IPAS committed to putting in place an adequately resourced quality assurance mechanism to monitor complaints, child protection and welfare concerns and any other adverse incidents indicating that a centre may not be providing quality services to families or complying with the Children First Act 2015.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will inspect designated accommodation centres, but emergency reception and orientation centres or emergency accommodation centres where children reside will not come under their remit as these are undesignated and governed by separate contractual arrangements.
HIQA is awaiting a commencement order from the minister to begin inspections.
The Ombudsman said he was not satisfied that a robust quality assurance mechanism was in place, or would be put in place, for the majority of children seeking International Protection.
Vulnerability of children
Following concerns raised over the vulnerability of children in the 2021 report by the Children Ombudsman’s Office, IPAS committed to putting a procedure in place to identify children with special reception needs.
This involves a vulnerability assessment within 30 days of an application for international protection being lodged on their behalf.
The regulations stipulate that the Minister "shall take account of the need for the accommodation centre to be suitable to meet all the minor’s needs" and to "allow the minor to avail of the benefits to which he or she is entitled" under the regulations.
By the end of May this year, 464 children had received a vulnerability assessment. Some 203 were referred to an IPAS social worker.
Dr Muldoon said that in circumstances where only 10% of children seeking international protection received a statutory vulnerability assessment, with 44% of those assessed as requiring a social work referral, he was not satisfied that IPAS had sufficient regard to the vulnerability of children within the international protection process in the planning and provision of their accommodation needs.
Ombudsman’s conclusion
The Ombudsman continues to receive complaints on behalf of children seeking international protection, according to the report.
These range from complaints about the impact of living conditions, food quality and centre rules on children’s health and wellbeing to concerns about how a transfer was administered, communicated, or has affected a child’s access to education and healthcare.
"While IPAS have been open to engaging with the OCO in relation to these complaints and concerns, the serious impact of this ongoing crisis on children requires short-, medium-, and long term solutions to be sought and expedited," according to the document.
Department of Children response
The report contains responses to the concerns raised by the Ombudsman from the Department of Children and Tusla.
On accommodation, the Department said the implementation of commitments in the While Paper to end Direct Provision and establish a new International Protection Support Service remained "a key priority" for the Department.
However, it pointed out that this had been "significantly impacted by the war in Ukraine and the "substantial increase" in international protection applicants.
A Cabinet memo will go to Government "in the coming week" setting out a revised implementation approach, according to the Department.
Due to the "huge increase in numbers" it said there would be a requirement for a "blended approach of accommodation options including commercial and private providers".
It added that "the current system" would remain in place for "the foreseeable future" and would continue to be under a considerable amount of pressure.
"The quality of accommodation that can be offered to applicants will continue in some instances not to be fully in line with the White Paper model", the response stated.
When it comes to standards within accommodation centres, it said IPAS had taken steps to support adherence to the national standards for accommodation offered to people in the protection process through its "arrangements" with accommodation centres.
"All properties selected under IPAS’ most recent tender process are required to implement these standards," according to the Department.
On vulnerability assessments, the Department said it identified 793 vulnerable minors that arrived between February 2021 and October 2023.
While it pointed out that all children were deemed vulnerable and a person may be vulnerable under more than one category in the assessment, 13 of those identified were unaccompanied minors.
Given the ongoing challenges faced by IPAS in sourcing accommodation, it is acknowledged in the Department’s reply that identifying the most suitable accommodation is done within the overall constraints of the accommodation available
It added that this "means that it is not always possible for IPAS to address all the identified vulnerabilities optimally when allocating accommodation".
Tusla response
Tusla pointed to its review of child safeguarding in the IPAS published in August, which indicates "ongoing issues in respect of compliance in the sector".
However, it said all services were supported to achieve compliance and work undertaken focused on "improving the understanding organisations have in respect of their responsibilities".
