The Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy, has called on State agencies to develop an integrated policy to deal with serious bullying or sexual abuse of children by their peers.
The appeal follows a complaint to the Southern Health Board that it failed to take appropriate action following notification of alleged sexual assault on a child by his peers while attending school.
Mr Murphy said that "the system did not appear to be able to cope with that situation, although it was prepared to cope if the case involved an adult." In investigating the case, which is detailed in the annual report of the Ombudsman published yesterday, he found that the board had not responded satisfactorily to the complaint.
It was claimed there was undue delay in carrying out an assessment of the child and a failure to provide for his psychological and educational welfare.
Among the Ombudsman's recommendations, all of which were accepted by the health board, was that it should put in place an effective case management procedure to review cases. It also said the board should initiate contact with the Department of Health and Children with a view to developing an integrated policy for dealing with cases of assault or abuse of children by children, with or without a sexual element.
Mr Murphy said he received one or two other cases last year relating to alleged sexual abuse. In general, he said, awareness of such issues on the part of staff in health boards had dramatically increased.
A total of 403 complaints against health boards were received last year by the Ombudsman, a slight decrease on 1996. More significantly, the number of complaints against local authorities fell by over a third to 403.
Among the cases was a complaint that Galway County Council had sold a substandard home under its shared ownership scheme. A couple who under the scheme acquired a share of the £27,000 house had complained that almost £22,000 worth of repairs were required despite the fact that the council had inspected and certified the home.
The Ombudsman found the case breached a number of standards in his guide on best practice. In particular, he criticised the tendency to adopt an adversarial and legalistic approach. Subsequently, the council offered to carry out the full repairs to be financed by a contribution of £5,000 from its own resources and the balance of £17,000 by way of loan to the complainants.
Mr Murphy called on local authorities not to assume an adversarial approach in similar cases "because the court is not a viable option for many people".
He welcomed Wexford County Council's clear acknowledgment of responsibility in a case involving the unloading of a tanker of raw sewage on to a field. The owner of adjoining land claimed that rain caused the sewage to drain on to her property and contaminate a well.
The council made a full apology, offered to reimburse the claimant and, as a gesture of good will, offered a further payment of £100.
