CORK county had the second highest number of complaints about children’s public services to a children’s rights body last year, a new report shows. 

Complaints from Cork to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office from Cork were at 9%, the second highest after Dublin (36%).

The OCO’s 2025 annual report shows a total of 1,778 complaints were made, with education (31%), Tusla (20%) and children’s health services (14%) topping the list of concerns from the public.

Among the case studies highlighted in the report is the story of Adam*, a young boy at the centre of a child protection concern at school.

‘This highlights a wider concern for us around the adequacy and accessibility of the current complaints’ procedures in schools,’ said Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon.

‘We believe it is time for a serious review of how complaints are handled in schools to ensure they are resolved effectively and include the voices of children and parents.’

The report also highlights ongoing issues around the resourcing of children’s services. OCO points out concerns about waiting lists for housing, Assessment of Need (AON), services of the Children Disability Network Team (CDNT), primary care services, a lack of school places, and CAMHS.

‘While we can’t direct public bodies on how to use their resources, it is clear that these delays are having a significant adverse impact on children,’ said Dr Muldoon.

‘We have repeatedly said that budgets are all about choices and at the moment our budget process is not child-centred. We only need to look to the €38 million spent on private Special Emergency Arrangements in 2025 as an example of that.’

The report details another extremely busy year for the OCO, with complaints becoming more complex and 15% referring to more than one agency.

Of the 1,552 individual complaints, 81% came from parents and 4% from children themselves.

The OCO engaged with more than 2,500 children last year through rights education workshops, school visits and outreach work around the country, including to IPAS and Direct Provision centres, CAMHS services and centres with unaccompanied children.

The children’s rights body is calling on the government to become a true leader in Europe on children’s rights, by moving toward the full and direct incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Irish law.