In some ways, the most historic aspect of the Bill to create an Ombudsman for Children, which was published yesterday, is the stipulation that in doing his or her work the Ombudsman must give "due consideration" to the child's own wishes.
For most of the 20th century the notion of giving due consideration to the wishes of children would have found little favour with most of those who controlled children's lives. It must be very doubtful, for instance, that children would have been sent to reformatories, orphanages or industrial schools, or subjected to harsh corporal punishment, if consideration had been given to their wishes.
Today the notion of taking the wishes of children into account is generally accepted - but we have a long way to go in according them their proper practical worth. In some areas our child protection services are abysmal and those who could effect change - social workers who know what is happening - are often afraid to speak out for fear of the consequences for their own careers.. Too many children are neglected or physically, emotionally or sexually abused. Our provision of play and sports facilities for children is a disgrace.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
The Ombudsman for Children can help address these and other defects.. He or she will be able to investigate complaints that a child's welfare has been adversely affected by the actions of public bodies, schools and hospitals.
A complaint will be most likely to succeed where a body has ignored its own policies. Examples might be health boards which place children in bed and breakfast accommodation in contravention of their own policies, a failure by a hospital to comply with the provisions of the patients' charter or failure by a local authority to implement a policy of providing playgrounds and sports facilities.
The ability of the Ombudsman for Children to investigate, report and demand a plan to address deficits is likely to influence, for the better, how services are provided.
It is to the credit of Minister for Children, Mary Hanafin TD and her predecessors Frank Fahey TD and Austin Currie TD that this point has been reached. But something more is needed: the Bill must be passed by the Oireachtas before the dissolution of the Dáil and Seanad. It is of great importance to children that the political parties heed the call from Barnardos to expedite the passage of the legislation.
When that is done a further crucial step will remain: that of ensuring that the Ombudsman for Children has the staffing resources which he or she will need in order to operate effectively.