Children's Ombudsman Says 2020 Was A "Devastating" For Children.

Wednesday, 16 June 2021 09:16

FIle image: Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon/RollingNews

1,187 complaints were made last year.

2020 was a "devastating" year for Irish children.

That's according to The Ombudsman for Children, who says he's worried potential abuse of children may have been missed due to the pandemic.

The office's annual report shows there's been an increase in children contacting the Ombudsman directly, mainly raising concerns about their education.

Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon says young people faced many issues last year:

⌚ #ChildhoodPaused ⌚

Our Annual Report for 2020 highlights some of the OCO’s main activities last year across a range of areas like education, health & the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on children's lives.

You can download the report here: https://t.co/RMv0s5S2NZ pic.twitter.com/cQIAXbYo1I
— Ombudsman for Children (@OCO_ireland) June 16, 2021

1,187 complaints were made to the Children's Ombudsman last year.

The with the number of calls from young people doubling.

Education accounted for almost half of all complaints, with new issues including remote learning and calculated grades.

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, says 2020 has been devastating for children:

30% of the complaints we received in 2020 came from Dublin.

Most complaints in 2020 were made by parents (80%) with 6% of complaints coming from children.

Find out more in our Annual Report for 2020, #ChildhoodPaused , here:https://t.co/RMv0s5S2NZ pic.twitter.com/FMzrzJRid4
— Ombudsman for Children (@OCO_ireland) June 16, 2021