Disabled boy confined to room

The Ombudsman for Children is investigating why a 15-year-old severely disabled boy is still confined to the downstairs living room of his home six years after applying for suitable accommodation.

Emily Logan revealed yesterday that for four years the local authority in question did not look into the case of the teenager whose life expectancy is limited by his illness.

Speaking at a Health Service Executive (HSE) summer school on youth health at St Angela's College, Sligo, Ms Logan said young people often felt their voices were not heard.

She said this boy had sent 11 letters to the relevant county council over four years but "people just sent back standard replies".

While reluctant to reveal details about the case to protect the privacy of the boy, she said he lived with his mother in a traditional "two-up, two-down" house where the bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs.

The boy and his mother had first sought help in 2000 when he was still mobile because they were aware that his condition would worsen and that in time the house would be unsuitable. The teenager is now paralysed from the neck down and is in a wheelchair.

Ms Logan said the boy's mother was unable to carry him upstairs so all his needs must be met in the downstairs living room.

The family was offered a house but a professional had advised that it would be unsuitable within six months because of the boy's changing needs.

The Ombudsman's office approached the county council "to talk about how decisions were made" in the case and discovered that nobody had looked into it for four years.

Ms Logan said the local authority had now agreed to review the case and offers of two other more appropriate houses had been made.

Stressing the importance of listening to young people, she said that unfortunately this was a classic case of a child being expected to fit into an existing system.

She told the summer school that 15 per cent of the complaints her office received came directly from young people. The others were made through trusted adults such as social workers or teachers. The youngest person to contact her directly was an eight-year-old.

Of the 600 complaints received by her office in the first year, 39 per cent related to health, 37 per cent to education and 8 per cent to justice. "We have 250 young people a year going into adult prisons, which does not sound like a big deal but if you are 15 an adult prison is quite a scary place to be."

About 30 per cent of the complaints were from young people with special needs who were not getting the help they require.