Children being denied legal representation is yet another shameful failure by the State

The wellbeing of children has a particularly important place on the conscience and in the consciousness of Irish society. We have a shameful history of how we have protected the most vulnerable children. We have had State apologies issued to children and their families for the worst episodes of the Government failing in its duty of care. And in recent weeks we have heard story after story, case after case, of deeply concerning failings towards children.

The criminal justice pay dispute that has dragged into its fourth month is now affecting children and young people, leaving those in need of legal aid completely adrift and cases postponed. The failure to provide legal representation is a serious rights violation, but also in the absence of a youth justice agency in Ireland it deprives these young people of a vital support. Their lawyers do far more than paperwork. They may be the only person the young person trusts to talk to, the only one to connect them to social work and community supports.

These are some of the most vulnerable children who often have been failed by the system with chaotic things happening around them in their lives. They cannot become casualties of this dispute and the failing of the State to resolve it.

The Government cannot absolve itself of the responsibility and duty of care that it expects of statutory agencies and services providing supports to children.

Last week, another story emerged from the courts which starkly illustrated what happens when a child falls through the cracks.

The case of a 14-year-old girl left with no secure place to go despite enduring what Judge John Jordan referred to as abhorrent abuse has rightly outraged the public. It is unfathomable that a child so young has been subjected to sexual exploitation and trafficking. But even more concerning is the fact that a case as shocking and deeply worrying as this is not an outlier.

When it comes to responding to children needing special care, the State is collectively failing. Judges have called it a national scandal. Guardians ad litem have raised alarms of children completely lost, fearful and alone with no hope.

We have heard directly from young children and teenagers crying out in court for help, desperately craving security, safety and support in their life.

Delivering 13 out of the promised 26 special-care beds is not enough. But the high level of complex need in these cases, staffing challenges and resourcing issues are all symptoms of deep-rooted systemic failings that will need far greater action and urgency from Government to undo.

Years of underinvestment in our child protection system has meant that it has only really been able to operate in crisis mode. Without adequate funding and chronic recruitment and retention issues, those involved are making impossible decisions every day as to which fire they are fighting and what is the most urgent need to which resources should be directed. Since Covid 19, the demands on the system have increased exponentially with annual referrals exceeding 100,000.

Yes, it is a question of funding. Is the State truly providing enough funding to support Tusla and the wider community services to meet the needs of vulnerable children? Increased investment in the budget is good, but these are green shoots in a dense forest. What difference can it really make when, at the same time, the State has instructed these support agencies to scale back and do more with less money to plug a gap of perceived overspend in other departments?

Clearly the approach of addressing each crisis as it happens simply creates a revolving door of children’s issues, shifting the pressure from one part of the system to another

Therein lies the problem. For all the incredible, innovative work happening on the ground across frontline services between agencies and community and youth work groups to wrap supports around the most vulnerable children, our Government must do more to back it.

The siloed mindset of Government departments makes it even more difficult to join the dots and look at the underlying causes and solutions. Many of the children ending up at the courts needing special care require services over which Tusla has no control – such as addiction services, disability services and therapies. Children will keep requiring special care, and Tusla will continue to provide places until these services are provided in a timely way. We need to hear from these children directly. We also need an audit of the individual cases of children coming for special care to identify what measure or action could have helped them.

Remember, special care results in children being deprived of their liberty for months at a time. We had a situation very recently where a child spent two years in special care because there was nowhere else for him to go. That’s just not good enough.

There is perhaps no one in this country not moved and deeply disturbed by what that 14-year-old girl experienced. These are the children and the stories that keep me up at night. These are the children that the people working in our frontline services, including Tusla, spend every waking hour restless and worried about.

But as difficult as these stories are to hear, and as complex these systemic challenges are, they are not insurmountable.

Clearly the approach of addressing each crisis as it happens simply creates a revolving door of children’s issues, shifting the pressure from one part of the system to another.

This means the small steps of progress we have had have to work much harder to have a meaningful impact on the lives of children and young people.

To steer a system of the scale of our child-protection or justice system, the Government needs to take a serious look at how it is investing in children’s welfare and wellbeing from the start.

Are we ambitious enough in our investment in prevention and early intervention? Do we value early childhood education, youth work and non-formal education equally to formal education in how it can transform the trajectory of a child’s life? Have we done all we can to invest in the infrastructure of support services or ensure sufficient wages of the expert staff that deliver them?

These are the questions we have to ask to really measure how the State treats its most vulnerable children.

Tanya Ward is chief executive of Children’s Rights Alliance