The Children’s Rights Alliance has raised serious concerns about the rate of child and family homelessness compared with the pace of social housing delivery, reports RTE.
In its first annual report card since the current coalition government took office, the Government was given a ‘D’ grade for its performance on housing and homelessness, reports RTE.
The report card evaluates how the Government is progressing on commitments to children set out in the Programme for Government.
According to the alliance, the ‘D’ grade reflects a failure to meet its first-year target, with 9,089 new social homes built compared to the annual target of 12,000, reports RTE.
It said the scale of the issue requires a coordinated, cross-departmental strategy to effectively prevent homelessness.
International protection accommodation, where 9,831 children were in the system as of January—most in emergency centres—also received a ‘D’ grade, reports RTE.
The grades awarded to the current coalition show improvement compared to the previous government, with no ‘E’ or ‘F’ grades issued this year.
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Previously, the last government had received an ‘E’ grade for four consecutive years due to the ongoing admission of children to adult psychiatric units, reports RTE.
Although a commitment had been made to end this practice, the latest report does not explore the issue in detail.
Instead, it highlights a pledge in the Programme for Government to strengthen mental health services for those up to 25 years old and to ensure smoother transitions from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to adult care, reports RTE.
In this area, the Government was given a ‘D’ grade.
Despite record waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, the Government received a ‘C’ grade for efforts to increase resources aimed at reducing these delays, reports RTE.
At the higher end of the grading scale, the 2026 report awarded a ‘B’ for what it described as positive progress in improving cooperation between State agencies involved in child protection.
Several ‘C’ grades were also given, including a C+ for Senior Cycle reform, a C+ for improving online safety for children, and a C for investment in State childcare facilities, reports RTE.
Chief executive of the alliance, Tanya Ward said that major promises made during the election campaign—such as reducing childcare costs, addressing housing and homelessness, and improving healthcare access—have yet to be delivered.
She said children are still waiting for meaningful improvements on issues they “perpetually feel the negative impact of, such as mental health, homelessness, harmful online content, and access to timely, appropriate supports”, reports RTE.
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