The Children’s Rights Alliance (CRA) handed the government its lowest grade ever for its “failure” to address child and family homelessness.

The organisation says its ‘F’ grade outlined in its annual Report Card reflects the record number of children who were homeless in 2018. 

Almost 4,000 children were living in emergency accommodation in November 2018, most of them in Dublin.

According to Chief Executive of the CRA, Tanya Ward, the government needs to recognise that child homelessness is a national emergency. 

“Family hubs and other interim solutions provide only a sticking plaster to what is a bigger and more complex issue,” he said. 

“To truly address this crisis, more public housing must be provided rather than over-relying on the private rented sector. 

“This is the first time under the Programme for Government that the Report Card panel of experts have awarded a score so low.”

The CRA also declared mental health as a serious concern, with the Government awarded a ‘D’ -‘ to reflect 7,206 children who were on waiting lists for an appointment for community and psychology supports in September, 2018.

There were also a further 2,250 children waiting for specialist mental health treatment through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in October, 2018. 

Traveller and Roma children were also graded poorly in this year’s Report Card. 

Judge Catherine McGuinness, who chaired this year’s panel of independent experts, said the ‘D-’grade reflects the daily discrimination that Traveller children face in accessing services, housing and education.

She said the increasing numbers of homeless Traveller families is particularly worrying as it adds to the already alarming levels of overcrowding. 

The number of Travellers living in temporary accommodation increased from 3,560 in 2011 to 3,718 in 2016. 

40pc of Traveller families live in overcrowded accommodation, compared to 6pc of the general population.

“Given these concerns, the continued underspend of local authorities on Traveller accommodation is a disgrace, said Ms McGuinness. 

“We also now have evidence of the abject poverty that some Roma children face as they live in overcrowded housing with rats, damp and sewerage and often don’t have enough food,” she said. 

Overall, the Government was awarded a ‘C’ grade for living up to its promises to children, a slight increase on last year’s ‘C-‘ and a significant improvement on the ‘D+’ grade that was awarded in 2017.

The report states that important steps had been taken last year to “protect and empower” children and how Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce an LGBTI+ strategy.

It also commended the government’s additional investment in more affordable childcare, which they claim will help families crippled by childcare costs.

“We also welcome Budget 2019 measures for families with older children with an increase in weekly social welfare payments of €5 for over 12s, recognising the higher costs of raising teenagers,” the CRA stated. 

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