The Ombudsman, who acts as an independent watchdog for children’s rights, said this was “particularly obvious in the geographical disparity in what services are offered and, in effect, means many children are punished for becoming ill in the wrong location”.
The Ombudsman urged the HSE to “begin the process of joint work or joint funding in regard to children’s mental health, with the Department of Equality” to ensure early intervention. “The examples of rights being ignored are numerous and include children with scoliosis deteriorating while they wait for operations, and children waiting for assessments of needs just so that they can begin to access services to help them thrive and reach their potential,” Dr Muldoon said.
The Ombudsman said there had been an “apparent dereliction of duty by the State, through the HSE” in these areas, adding that he found it “particularly galling” that there was an “ongoing disregard as to how to fix these issues” as they were “not new”.