No state can reasonably call itself a republic if it does not do all in its power to give every one of its children a decent start in life. This week Minister for Children James Reilly appeared before the United Nations committee monitoring the State's implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which Ireland ratified without reservation in 1992. The previous such examination was in 2006, so the minister's appearance marked a decade of progress – or lack of it – for Irish children. As he seemed to accept, it was at best an ambivalent moment. It seems likely that the UN panel will come up with the kind of double verdict that is all too familiar in Irish social policy – the best of intentions but, for far too many children, the worst of outcomes.
The good intentions deserve recognition. Over the last decade, the State has created an infrastructure for children's rights of which it can be justly proud. There is now a full cabinet minister for children. The office of the Ombudsman for Children, which has been up and running since 2004, has been very effective in giving a voice to the experiences and concerns of children and teenagers. The clause on children's rights inserted into the constitution in 2012 is a model of its kind. And the establishment of the child and family agency Tusla in 2014 was a very welcome step in the right direction. The official policy framework, Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, provides a good roadmap of what needs to be done over the next five years.
Yet this new legal and institutional framework looks uncomfortably like a lovely architectural blueprint for a house that has not actually been built. As James Reilly acknowledged, the shameful fact is that the proportion of children living in consistent poverty almost doubled during the crisis years after 2008, making children the silent victims of austerity. One Irish child out of every three is deprived of some basic necessities. The Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study has shown that inequalities in physical and mental development are manifesting themselves before babies have even become toddlers. Child protection is still grossly inadequate: more than a quarter of children known to be in danger have no social worker allocated to them. Almost 3,000 children are waking up in hotel rooms or hostels because their parents are either homeless or seeking asylum. Children are being deprived of access to primary education because of their religion.
The time for good intentions is over. The State has the means to ensure that no child is hungry, homeless, chronically unsafe or deprived of access to decent education and health care. Making this happen should be the first priority of the next government. It is a challenge that should define our republicanism in the coming years. Meaning well is not enough – we have to do well by all of our children.