The Ombudsman for Children has warned that underinvestment in Tusla could impact its ability to meet demand amid a surge in referrals and an expanded brief.
In correspondence to Minister for Children Norma Foley sent in April, Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon called for a review of the level of funding given to the child and family agency after a 10-year period which has seen its remit “expand considerably” and referrals up 125 per cent.
He said that with the presidency of the council of the European Union pending, there was a “real opportunity” for Ireland to demonstrate leadership on children’s rights in Europe.
Muldoon wrote that Tusla had an “essential” role in ensuring the protection and welfare of children in the State “the importance of which cannot be overstated”.
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Extra responsibilities and heightened demand have come alongside “other challenges”, he wrote, such as the decline in foster carers and social workers, a shortage of alternative care places and the war in Ukraine.
Against this backdrop he said: “I believe there is a need to review the level of funding received by Tusla to ensure its ability to meet these demands is not impacted by underinvestment.”
A spokeswoman for the ombudsman’s office said last week that it was “still concerned about the level of funding provided to Tusla in light of underfunding over the last five years”, and that it was also concerned about recent reports that departments are to be levied to help fill a €646 million funding black hole in the Department of Education.
“There is an opportunity now, as preparations get under way by Government for Budget 2027, to ensure that the agency has sufficient resourcing to keep children safe and care for, while fully carrying out the broad scope of its remit,” the ombudsman’s office said.
Separate correspondence shows the ombudsman continually asked that part of UN convention on the rights of the child be incorporated into domestic law. Muldoon told Foley that incorporating the convention was “the single most important action” that could be taken to safeguard and promote children’s rights. He also wrote that he remained “deeply concerned” over delays in this step.
In March of this year, Foley told him the Attorney General had informed her that barriers to ratification had been overcome and the necessary measures would be prepared. The ombudsman’s office said last week this step “has to be completed this year as Ireland has waited far too long” to get to this point.
Muldoon is continuing to press the department for a pay increase for his role, with his focus now switching to seek a higher salary for his successor when his term expires next February.
The ombudsman’s office has for several years been seeking that pay for the position be equivalent to an assistant secretary grade in the Civil Service – which attracts a salary of up to €196,000 annually.
In a letter to department secretary general Kevin McCarthy in February, Muldoon put forward a business case for the change on the basis that the first Ombudsman for Children was paid at this level between 2004 and 2014.
He warned that the ombudsman has legally independent powers on investigations, findings and recommendations which could be impacted if the role remained unfilled for any time period.
In the business case it was argued that there was a “stronger case” than in 2004 for the position to attract a higher salary as the role has significantly increased in responsibility while the office has also grown substantially amid “increasing and pressurised media and political scrutiny” of its work.
Muldoon is currently paid €130,000.
