Report Card 2021 Is Government keeping its promises to children? Contents CARET-RIGHTForeword 3 CARET-RIGHTChildren’s Rights Alliance Members 6 CARET-RIGHTAcknowledgements 7 CARET-RIGHTExecutive Summary 10 CARET-RIGHTResearch Methodology 16 CARET-RIGHTGrades Table 17 CARET-RIGHTKey Facts & Statistics 18 1 Reform of the Early Childhood Education and Care System 19 2 Childcare Ireland Agency 38 3 Free School Books 47 4 Reduced Timetables 56 5 Constitutional Right to Education for Children with Special Educational Needs 70 6 Traveller and Roma Education 85 7 Children in Adult Psychiatric Facilities 95 8 Food Poverty 110 9 Public Health Obesity Act 122 10 Family Homelessness 132 11 Youth Homelessness 148 12 Children in Direct Provision 163 13 Pathways for Undocumented Children 183 14 Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 192 15 Child Safety Online 206 16 Reform of the Family Law Courts 219 2 Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2021 Foreword Report Card 2021 is the first analysis of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party’s joint Programme for Government: Our Shared Future and how it performed for children in 2020. We have carefully selected 16 promises to children and have rated the Government on its efforts since their formation from June to December 2020. As always, our independent panel of experts, chaired by Judge Catherine McGuinness graded the Government’s performance. The positive progress Although it is now in its thirteenth year, during 2020 must this year’s Report Card is different to all now be built upon and our previous reports down the years. momentum for change Since March 2020, Covid-19 has turned the world upside down. This is particularly maintained despite true for children, especially vulnerable the deeply challenging ones who have been the most affected. circumstances we face. We have continually called for their unique needs to be front and centre during the pandemic, yet they were barely considered in initial government plans. It is through a pandemic lens that this year’s report should be viewed. There have been immense challenges for sure, which has stymied some government action. This plays out in the grades with the new government securing a report card with 8 Ds, 7 Cs and just 1 B – hardly stellar results. The silver lining is that despite these challenging circumstances some important new commitments were made, including pathways for undocumented children and on the long-awaited reform of the family law system. 3 Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2021 Similarly, there was a continuity of work from the previous government and new urgency given the pandemic, resulting in encouraging action in some areas, including reform of early childhood education and care and Direct Provision and other positive outcomes from emergency protection measures such as a reduction in family homelessness. But there is no time to waste. With all the turbulence and turmoil, it is easy to forget that approximately 60,000 children will have been born in Ireland in 2020. For these babies and for the million preschoolers, children and teens, childhood has been at a standstill. These children are growing up in extraordinary circumstances and for the Government, this is unchartered territory. We must make plans for children’s needs now and in the future. Failure to act for our youngest people will have clear consequences for their health, wellbeing and educational progress. The impact of childhood lasts a lifetime, after all. In many ways, a child’s chances of doing well during the pandemic is down to the capacity of their parents to support them. Covid-19 has left children exposed. Parents are doing their best, but they can’t do it on their own. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that all children are safe, supported and able to achieve their full potential and Government must lead from the top on this. We have heard heart-breaking stories of children hungry due to family job losses and food poverty. Mums and Dads have told us that their children with special needs have severely regressed due to school closures. They say they can no longer cope. Children at risk of abuse and neglect no longer have the safety net of school yet are more vulnerable than ever in the hermetically sealed environment that can sometimes be home. It is clear that where problems already existed for families, Covid-19 has made these worse, but without the same supports available. For other families, the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic will have created new hardships and vulnerabilities. We are seeing new levels of need surfacing in families who were previously managing, and there is a risk that problems go undetected and unsupported due to the lack of contact with outside services during lockdown. 4 Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2021 The pandemic has heightened the need for sustained investment to close the inequality gap and ensure all families receive the support they need so their children can thrive. These issues will have long-term consequences if they are not dealt with now. The good news is that there are opportunities to make lasting change. It is the Children’s Rights Alliance’s job to join up the dots and call for those things that put children’s best interests at the centre of policy, law and services. A new national children’s strategy is due in 2021, which is a good place to start. We need to capitalise on this opportunity to put in place a robust recovery strategy for all children, especially for those who need it most. Ireland will come under international scrutiny by a top group of independent experts, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child culminating in a review in Geneva in early 2022. The Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities will also shine a spotlight on Ireland as it is due to be reviewed later this year. This is our opportunity to reflect and take a critical look at where we have fallen short for our most vulnerable children and ensure that going forward, no child is left behind. Looking to 2021, there are deep challenges ahead but the Programme for Government provides a roadmap for improvement. The positive progress during 2020 must now be built upon and momentum for change maintained despite the deeply challenging circumstances we face. The Government must seize new opportunities and harness our collective creativity like never before. We must prioritise children’s futures. This is not a choice but an imperative. 5 Children’s Rights Alliance Report Card 2021 Children's Rights Alliance Members Founded in 1995, the Children’s Rights Alliance unites over 100 members working together to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child. We change the lives of all children in Ireland by making sure that their rights are respected and protected in our laws, policies and services. • Ag Eisteacht • Inclusion Ireland • Pavee Point • Alcohol Action Ireland • Institute of Guidance Counsellors • Peter McVerry Trust • Amnesty International Ireland • Irish Aftercare Network • Private Hospitals Association • An Cosán • Irish Association for • Psychological Society Ireland • AsIAm Infant Mental Health • Rainbow Club Cork • Association of Secondary • Irish Association of Social Workers • Rainbows Ireland Teachers Ireland (ASTI) • Irish Centre for Human • Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) • ATD Fourth World – Ireland Ltd Rights, NUI Galway • Realt Beag/Ballyfermot Star • Atheist Ireland • Irish Congress of Trade • Respond Housing • Barnardos Unions (ICTU) • SAFE Ireland • Barretstown Camp • Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) • Saoirse Housing Association • Bedford Row Family Project • Irish Foster Care Association • SAOL Beag Children’s Centre • BeLonG To Youth Services • Irish Girl Guides • Scouting Ireland • Care Leavers’ Network • Irish Heart Foundation • School of Education UCD • Catholic Guides of Ireland • Irish National Teachers • Sexual Violence Centre Cork • Children’s Books Ireland Organisation (INTO) • Simon Communities of Ireland • Child Care Law Reporting Project • Irish Penal Reform Trust • SIPTU • Childhood Development Initiative • Irish Primary Principals Network • Social Care Ireland • Childminding Ireland • Irish Refugee Council • Society of St. Vincent de Paul • Children in Hospital Ireland • Irish Second Level • Sonas Domestic Violence Charity • COPE Galway Students’ Union (ISSU) • SPHE Network • Cork Life Centre • Irish Society for the Prevention • SpunOut.ie • Crosscare of Cruelty to Children • St. Nicholas Montessori College • CyberSafeKids • Irish Traveller Movement • St. Nicholas Montessori • Dalkey School Project • Irish Youth Foundation (IYF) Teachers’ Association National School • Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation • St. Patrick’s Mental Health Services • Daughters of Charity Child • Jigsaw • Suas Educational Development and Family Service • Katharine Howard Foundation • Teachers’ Union of Ireland • Dental Health Foundation of Ireland • Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership • Transgender Equality • Department of Occupational • Mecpaths Network Ireland (TENI) Science and Occupational • Mental Health Reform • The Ark, A Cultural Therapy, UCC • Mercy Law Resource Centre Centre for Children • Disability Federation of Ireland • Migrant Rights Centre Ireland • The Prevention and Early • Doras • Mothers’ Union Intervention Network • Down Syndrome Ireland • My Project Minding You • The UNESCO Child and Family • Dublin Rape Crisis Centre • Museum of Childhood Project Research Centre, NUI Galway • Dyslexia Association of Ireland •