The Children’s Ombudsman has accused the Government of letting down child victims of domestic and sexual violence, and of disrespecting his office.
Dr Niall Muldoon’s remarks came after it refused to fund the monitoring of how the Government’s landmark “zero tolerance” domestic abuse strategy affects children. The role fell apart during a “shameful” three-year row which left Dr Muldoon “very angry”.
The Department of Justice has confirmed the ombudsman will now have no role in monitoring the third national plan, which was the first to identify children as domestic abuse victims in their own right rather than witnesses.
Before it was launched with much fanfare in 2022, the government asked Dr Muldoon to monitor whether the plan was upholding children’s rights.
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But Dr Muldoon’s office spent the following three years unsuccessfully asking the Department of Justice and the Department of Children to fund the role his office was asked to do. Both departments claimed the other was responsible for funding the role.
From 2022 on, Dr Muldoon sent a series of letters to then justice minister Helen McEntee, expressing increasing frustration.
In the correspondence with the Department of Justice, released under Freedom of Information laws, Dr Muldoon said the ombudsman “did not seek” the position, but government officials had been “very eager for us to take [it] up”.
In early 2023, Dr Muldoon asked for the role to be funded by January 2024, “even if it is 18 months late”.
By October 2023, Dr Muldoon expressed exasperation to have received “not one single reply” in a year.
Despite “long, drawn-out engagement” between government officials, Dr Muldoon said, “for the second budget in a row – your department has reneged on the promises given”.
“The actions of your department have been disrespectful of this office. However, my biggest concern and one that makes me very angry, is the impact this will have on the children who are being subjected to domestic or sexual and gender-based violence. These children have been let down. That is shameful behaviour,” Dr Muldoon said.
He formally asked for any reference to the ombudsman to be removed from the strategy.
“The good name of this office has been used by your department to offer credibility and substance to the actions in relation to children that are outlined in the strategy, but I cannot let that continue,” he said.
In January 2024, Dr Muldoon tried to secure funding again, arguing that “while discussions continue over who pays for what, it is the children impacted by domestic, sexual and gender-based violence who will suffer”.
In March of this year, Dr Muldoon wrote to newly-appointed Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, seeking a meeting to talk about “key areas”, including the “essential” funding of the role overseeing the national strategy.
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“The strategy rightly identifies children and young people as both witnesses and victims/survivors, and their needs must be fully considered,” Dr Muldoon said.
But the Department of Justice has now confirmed “it was not possible to reach agreement on the precise parameters of this policy advice role and the resources that would be required”.
The third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) was due to run from 2022 to 2026. The last implementation plan for the strategy, which covers 2025 to 2026, was launched last month and includes no reference to the ombudsman.
A spokesman for the department said “further consideration will be given to how the needs to children are best met under the fourth national strategy on DSGBV, as it is developed”.
A Department of Children spokeswoman said that, as the ombudsman was no longer mentioned in the national domestic violence plan, “the query you have raised is no longer relevant”.
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