Ombudsman for Children annual report 2017

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) promotes the rights and welfare of children and young people under 18 years of age living in Ireland. We also look into complaints made by, or for children and young people, about the actions of public bodies. We received 1,755 new complaints in 2017, our highest number in any one year since we were established. This is a 4% increase from 2016 and an overall increase of 7% over the past two years. The proportion of complaints that relate to health services has decreased from 17% in 2016 to 14% in 2017. The availability of accessible, appropriate and timely mental health services remains a concern for this office. During 2017 we received 57 complaints about accessing mental health services and, in particular, the challenges for families when children are suicidal and seek help. While the majority of cases relate to children waiting for primary psychology services, we are also concerned about the response of services when children present as suicidal